N 


KFCOltD 


LINCOLN  ROOM 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
LIBRARY 


MEMORIAL 

the  Class  of  1901 


7-5 


President  William  McKinley 

Etching  from  a  pen  drawing  made  for  MRS.  MCKINLEY  by  HUGO  VON  HOFSTEN,  and  now 
banging  in  MRS.  MCKINLEY'S  room. 


McKirvley  V  Garfield 
Lincoln 

THEIR.  LIVES  THEIR.  DEEDS  THEIR.  DEATHS 

With  a  Record  of 

Notable  Assassinations 

and 

A  History  of  Anarchy 


'By 
WILLIAM  DIXON  BANCROFT 


Memorial  Ebition 


Magnificently   Illustrated   with    Engravings   from 

Original  Photographs,  Drawings,  Paintings 

and  Sketches 


Published  by 
THE  UNITED  STATES  NEWSPAPER.  SYNDICATE 

Chicago  a.nd  New  York 


COPYRIGHT,  1901 

BY 

JOHN  R.  FOSTER 


TA*BLB  OF  COftTEJVTS. 


BOOK    L 
"William  McKinley,  the  Ideal 


CHAPTER  I. 

Short  Sketch  of  the  Life  of  President  McKinley  —  His  Rise  From  Obscurity 
to  the  Presidency  —  Heroism  on  the  Battlefield—  President  Hayes'  Praise 

—  McKinley  a  Devoted  Soldier  —  His  Masterly  Address  at  Buffalo  —  His 
Tribute  to  Lincoln  ......................................................    19 

CHAPTER  II. 

Assassination  of  President  McKinley  —  Shot  Down  in  the  Music  Hall  at  the 
Pan-American  Exposition  at  Buffalo  by  an  Assassin  Who  Concealed  His 
Revolver  in  the  Folds  of  a  Handkerchief  —  Fellow-Conspirator  Holds  the 
President's  Right  Hand  in  Order  to  Give  the  Murderer  an  Opportunity 
to  Accomplish  His  Purpose  —  Capture  of  the  Assassin  and  Escape  of 
His  Accomplice  .........................................................  34 

CHAPTER  III. 

President  McKinley's  Assassin  Makes  a  Full,  Free  and  Complete  Confes- 
sion —  He  Says  He  Was  Alone  in  the  Matter  and  Had  No  Accomplices 

—  Proud  of  His  Dastardly  Deed  —  His  Father  Denounces  Him  .............    50 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Simplicity  of  the  Home  Life  of  President  and  Mrs.  McKinley  —  Their  Mar- 
riage an  Interesting  Event  in  Canton  —  Loving  Care  of  the  President  for 
His  Wife  —  Two  Children  Born  to  Them  —  Habits  of  the  President  ........  6l 

CHAPTER  V. 

Death  of  President  McKinley  at  the  Milburn  House  at  Fifteen  Minutes  Past 
Two  O'Clock  on  the  Morning  of  Saturday,  September  I4th,  1901  —  Gan- 
grene the  Cause  —  At  One  Time  He  Seemed  to  be  on  the  Road  to  Re- 
covery —  "God's  Will,  Not  Ours,  Be  Done,"  the  Last  Words  .of  the 
Martyr  Chief  Magistrate  —  Those  at  the  Bedside  ..........................  69 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Poisoned  Bullet  the  Cause  of  President  McKinley's  Death  —  He  Was  Doomed 
to  Die  from  the  First  —  Result  of  the  Autopsy  —  President  Roosevelt 
Sworn  In  —  His  Proclamation  —  Funeral  Ceremonies  of  the  Lamented  Chief 
Magistrate  —  Body  Lying  in  State  in  Capitol  —  Interment  at  Canton  ........  85 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Czolgosz  a  Follower  of  Emma  Goldman,  the  High  Priestess  of  Anarchy  in 
the  United  States  —  She  is  Arrested  With  Others  in  Chicago  on  the 


ri  TABLE    OF    CONTENTS. 

Charge  of  Conspiracy  to  Kill  President  McKinley — Sneers  at  the  Po- 
lice—Her Heartless  Words  After  the  President's  Death— Charge  That 
Conspiracy  Was  Hatched  in  Chicago — Czolgosz  Not  Insane  Nor  a 
Degenerate 104 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

McKinley  One  of  the  Most  Finished  and  Graceful  Orators  the  United  States 
Has  Ever  Produced — His  Eulogies  on  President  James  A.  Garfield,  the 
Volunteer  Soldier  of  America  and  General  U.  S.  Grant 124 

CHAPTER  IX. 

President  McKinley  as  a  Lawyer — Early  Fame  as  a  Speaker — President  Hayes' 
Advice  to  the  Young  Politician — McKinley's  Career  in  Congress — The 
Tariff  Bill — Elected  Governor  of  Ohio  —  McKinley  at  the  Minneapolis 
Convention , 144 

CHAPTER  X. 

Similarity  Between  the  Cases  of  Presidents  McKinley  and  Garfield — In  Neither 
Instance  Was  the  Bullet  Which  Proved  a  Source  of  Danger  Located — 
Physicians  in  Attendance  Upon  the  Distinguished  Patients 162 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Intense  Horror  Throughout  the  World  When  the  Shooting  of  President 
McKinley  Became  Known — Messages  of  Condolence  and  Sympathy 
Received  From  All  Parts  of  the  Earth — Great  Grief  Shown 170 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Remarkable  Journey  of  the  Funeral  Train  From  Buffalo  to  the  National  Capital 
— Details  of  the  Trip — Scenes  Never  Before  Witnessed — Children  Strew 
Flowers  Along  the  Rails — Grief  of  the  Multitudes 187 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

Washington,  the  Capital  of  the  Nation,  Pays  Its  Homage  to  the  Memory  of 
the  Departed  President — Solemn  Scenes  in  the  Rotunda  of  the  Capitol — 
Escorting  the  Body  From  the  White  House — Somber  Military  Pageant — 
A  Notable  Assemblage  of  Prominent  Personages 202 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

Closing  Scenes  in  the  Sad  Tragedy  of  the  Martyrdom  of  President  McKinley — 
The  Trip  From  Washington  to  Canton — Mrs.  McKinley  Leaves  the  White 
House  Forever — Final  Exercises  at  the  President's  Old  Home,  and  Burial. .  227 

CHAPTER  XV. 

President  McKinley  and  His  Farm — A  Profitable  Investment — Making  Apple 
Butter — McKinley's  Dexterity  in  Shaking  Hands — Receptions  at  the  White 
House  by  Mrs.  McKinley — Her  Four  Thousand  Pairs  of  Slippers — Pro- 
tecting the  Persons  of  Presidents 242 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

William  J.  Bryan's  Tender  and  Graceful  Tribute  to  the  Memory  of  President 
McKinley— The  Heir  to  England's  Throne  Says  Words  of  Praise— Other 
Expressions  of  Admiration  for  the  Character  of  the  Dead  Chief 
Magistrate , .  ( 257 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS.  vii 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

Theodore  Roosevelt  a  Knickerbocker  of  the  Knickerbockers — One  of  a  Long 
and  Distinguished  Line  of  Patriots — Forefathers  Came  From  the  Nether- 
lands— "Teddy's"  Advancement  Due  to  His  Own  Energies  and  Efforts — 
Record  in  Politics  and  War 271 


BOOK  n. 

Jamej  Abrcirn  Garfield,  the  Orator- 
Statesman. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Details  of  the  Cruel  Assassination  of  President  Garfield — Stricken  Down  by 
the  Bullet  Fired  by  the  Insensate  Assassin,  Guiteau,  in  the  Pennsylvania 
Depot  at  Washington — His  Sufferings  and  Death 301 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

Garfield,  Like  Lincoln,  was  Born  in  the  Western  Wilderness — Left  an  Orphan 
at  an  Early  Age — Wonderful  Self-Reliance  of  His  Mother — Goes  to  Sea 
on  a  Canal  Boat — Promoted  to  be  Pilot 309 

CHAPTER  XX. 

Young  Garfield  Determined  to  Secure  an  Education — Gives  Up  the  Idea  of 
Becoming  a  Sailor — School  at  Chester  Academy — Joins  the  Church — 
His  Creed — Enters  Hiram  College — Is  Graduated  at  Williams — Presi- 
dent of  Hiram — His  Marriage — Goes  to  the  Ohio  State  Senate 316 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

Garfield  as  a  Soldier — Chosen  Lieutenant-Colonel  and  Then  Colonel  of  a 
Regiment — Drives  the  Confederates  from  Eastern  Kentucky — Created  a 
Brigadier  General — Good  Work  at  Shiloh — Made  Chief  of  Staff  to 
Major  General  William  S.  Rosecrans 323 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

Garfield's  Close  Relations  to  His  Chief,  General  Rosecrans — The  Movements 
Which  Ended  in  the  Assault  at  Chickamauga  by  General  Bragg — Gar- 
field  Goes  to  General  Thomas,  "The  Rock,"  and  Remains  Until  the 
Union  Troops  Are  Masters  of  the  Bloody  Field — Close  of  Garfield's 
Military  Career 328 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

General  Garfield  Resigns  from  the  Army  to  Accept  an  Election  to  Con- 
gress— General  Rosecrans'  Advice — Garfield  Complimented  by  the  Lat- 
ter for  His  Services  at  the  Battle  of  Chickamauga — Created  a  Major 
General  of  Volunteers — An  Example  of  Garfield's  Sense  of  Justice  and 
Right 336 


viii  TABLE    OF    CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

General  Garfield  in  the  House  of  Representatives  of  Congress — Opposition 
to  His  Re-election  Gradually  Melts  Away — Election  to  the  United  States 
Senate — Does  Not  Take  His  Seat  There  Because  of  His  Nomination 
and  Election  to  the  Presidency 339 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

General  Garfield  in  His  Home  Life  at  Mentor  and  Washington — His  Wife 
Shared  His  Intellectual  Tastes — Description  of  His  Two  Homes — A 
Visit  to  the  President-Elect — His  Children — Library  in  the  Washington 
House  Where  He  Spent  Most  of  His  Time 342 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

President  Garfield  as  a  Statesman,  Philosopher,  Politician  and  Political 
Economist — An  Active  Participant  in  All  the  Debates  in  the  Lower 
House  of  Congress — "Garfield's  Budget  Speeches" — His  Article  on  "A 
Century  in  Congress" 347 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

The  Power  and  Influence  Exerted  by  General  Garfield  Over  the  Minds  and 
Passions  of  His  Fellow-Citizens — Stilling  the  Passions  of  the  Great 
Throng  in  Wall  Street  the  Day  Succeeding  President  Lincoln's  As- 
sassination    360 


BOOK    III. 
Abraham  Lincoln,  -the  Great  Emancipator, 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

The  Assassination  of  President  Lincoln  the  First  of  a  Series  of  Three — How 
It  Is  That  Chief  Magistrates  of  the  Republic  Are  Easy  Prey  for  Mur- 
derers— Lincoln  Did  Not  Like  to  be  Surrounded  by  Guards — Lamon's 
Warning 373 

CHAPTER  XXIX 

The  Story  of  Lincoln's  Life  as  Written  by  Himself— "The  Short  and 
Simple  Annals  of  the  Poor" — Early  Struggles  and  Disappointments — 
His  Achievements  and  Triumphs — How  He  Overcame  All  Obstacles  and 
Became  the  Most  Eminent  Among  the  Rulers  of  the  Earth 379 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

Lincoln's  Great  "House  Divided  Against  Itself"  Speech,  Which  First 
Brought  Him  Into  National  Prominence — Joint  Debate  With  Douglas 
— Election  to  the  Presidency  of  the  United  States 389 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS.  ix 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 

Lincoln  Inaugurated  as  President  of  the  United  States — His  Inaugural  Ad- 
dress the  Means  of  Calling  All  the  Friends  of  the  Union  Cause  to  His 
Support — War  Begins  in  Earnest — The  Emancipation  Proclamation  of 
January  1st,  1863,  Frees  the  Slaves  So  Long  Held  in  Bondage 399 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 

Lincoln's  Boyhood  and  Young  Manhood  as  Illustrated  by  the  Stories  Told 
Regarding  Him — How  He  Acquired  the  Sobriquet  of  "Honest  Abe" — 
The  First  Dollar  He  Ever  Earned — Experiences  on  the  Mississippi  on  a 
Flatboat — Paid  Everything  He  Owed 415 

CHAPTER   XXXIII. 

Lincoln  on  the  Circuit  as  a  Lawyer — Determined  to  Succeed  in  His  Pro- 
fession— His  Kindness  to  His  Stepmother — His  Sense  of  Justice  in  Con- 
ducting His  Law  Cases — Gets  the  Worst  of  It  in  a  Horse  Trade — One  of 
His  Disappointments — How  "Abe"  was  Nominated  for  Congress — His 
Trust  in  God 431 

CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

Lincoln  as  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  Nation — His  Enemies  Brand  Him  as 
a  Coward — His  Subsequent  Career  Shows  Him  the  Bravest  and  Most 
Fearless  Among  All  the  Men  Who  Held  the  Destiny  of  the  Republic  in 
Their  Hands — Disdainful  of  the  Threats  of  Assassination,  He  Pursues 
His  Way  in  Calmness  and  Heroic  Fortitude 441 

CHAPTER  XXXV. 

Lincoln  During  the  War  of  the  Rebellion— A  Man  of  Sentimentality  and 
Deep  Feeling— Satisfied  with  the  Way  General  Grant  Did  Things— The 
Dutch  Gap  Canal— The  President's  Belief  in  the  Efficiency  of  the  Moni- 
tor— His  Absence  of  Fear  Regarding  Assassination 451 

CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

Lincoln's  Second  Inaugural  Address  on  Ma,rch  4th,  1865— The  Last  Speech 
Made  by  the  Martyr  President,  in  Response  to  a  Serenade,  Before  His 
Assassination— Text  of  His  Immortal  Address  on  the  Battlefield  of 
Gettysburg  45! 

CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

John  Wilkes  Booth  the  Originator  of  the  Plot  to  Assassinate  the  President- 
Flight,  Capture  and  Death  of  the  Murderer — Burial  of  His  Body  in  the 
Old  Penitentiary  at  Washington 469 

CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

Execution  of  Mrs.  Surratt,  Atzeroth,  Harold  and  Payne  in  the  Jail  Yard  at 
Washington — Scenes  and  Incidents — Thousands  of  Soldiers  Guard  the 
Prison  and  the  Vicinity— How  the  Culprits  Died 490 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS. 

BOOK   IV. 


OF 

The  flowed  Ajjcujrincrtionj  of  Modern 

Times. 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

Notable  Assassins  and  Assassinations  of  Recent  Times — Murder  of  Presidents 
of  Republics,  Crowned  Heads  and  Prominent  Men  of  Various  Nations — 
Characteristics  of  Regicides — Their  Methods  of  Procedure — Most  of  Them 
of  a  Low  Type  of  Intellectuality — What  Prompted  Them  to  Their  Ferocious 
and  Desperate  Deeds — The  Ghastly  and  Bloody  Record  of  a  Single  Century 
— Punishment  Meted  Out  to  the  Criminals 505 

CHAPTER  XL. 

The  History  of  Anarchy  and  Anarchists  in  Europe  and  the  United  States 
Since  the  Conception  of  the  Movement — Influence  of  the  French  Revolution 
— Something  About  Nitro-Glycerine,  Dynamite,  Lyddite  and  Melinite — 
Anarchists,  However,  Prefer  Dynamite — United  States  Gets  the  Terrorists 
in  Force  After  the  Passage  of  the  German  Socialistic  Law 515 


President  William  McKinley 

(From  his  latest  photograph) 


BOOK    I. 


icim  McKinlcy, 


The  Ideal  American. 


CHRONOLOGY 

OF 

WILLIAM    McKINLEY 


Born  Niles,  Trumbull  County,  O.,  January  29,  1843. 
Entered  Allegheny  College,  Meadviile,  Pa.,  1860. 

Enlisted  as  private  in  Company  E,  23rd  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry, 
June  11,  1861. 

Participated  in  battles  South  Mountain  and  Antietam,  September 
14  and  17,  1862;  promoted  from  Commissary  Sergeant  to 
Lieutenant. 

Promoted  Captain,  battle  of  Kernstown,  July  24,  1864. 
Commissioned  Major  by  brevet,  March  14,  1865. 

Studied  law,  law  school  at  Albany,  N.  Y.;  admitted  to  bar  at 
Warren,  O.,  March,  1867. 

Elected  Prosecuting  Attorney,  Stark  County,  O.,  1869. 

Elected  to  Congress,  1876. 

Re-elected  to  Congress  for  seventh  time,  November,  1888. 

Inaugurated  Governor  of  Ohio,  January  11,  1892. 

Elected  President  of  the  United  States,  November,  1896. 

Re-nominated  for  President,  June  21,  1900. 

Re-elected  November  4,  1900. 

Shot  September  6,  1901. 

Died  at  Buffalo,  September  14,  1901 


BOOK   L 

William  McJfJnley, 

C 'he  Ideal  American. 


CHAPTER   I. 

SHORT  SKETCH  OF  THE  LIFE  OF  PRESIDENT  McKiNLEY — His  RISE  FROM 
OBSCURITY  TO  THE  PRESIDENCY — HEROISM  ON  THE  BATTLEFIELD — 
PRESIDENT  HAYES'  PRAISE — McKiNLEY  A  DEVOTED  SOLDIER — His 
MASTERLY  ADDRESS  AT  BUFFALO — His  TRIBUTE  TO  LINCOLN. 


William  McKinley,  born  of  humble  origin,  lawyer,  soldier,  statesman 
and  gentleman,  had  as  varied  a  career  as  is  often  the  lot  of  men.  "The 
Master  Manipulator  of  Men"  a  Cabinet  member  once  styled  him,  and  it 
was  as  characteristic  of  one  side  of  his  nature  as  "The  Genial  Gentleman" 
was  of  another. 

In  all  of  the  changes  which  his  life  showed  it  was  remarked  that  there 
was  a  constant  rise  from  one  step  in  the  ladder  to  the  next  until  he  reached 
the  most  prominent  position  it  is  possible  for  an  American  to  reach,  and 
attained  the  greatest  honor  it  is  in  the  power  of  the  people  to  grant. 

He  was  born  at  Niles,  Trumbull  County,  Ohio,  January  29,  1843.  He 
came  of  a  sturdy  ancestry.  Some  150  years  before  his  birth  his  fore- 
fathers emigrated  from  Scotland  to  Pennsylvania,  and  his  grandfather, 
Daniel  McKinley,  in  the  battles  of  Brandywine,  Germantown  and  Mon- 
mouth,  had  won  for  himself  a  distinguished  place  in  the  annals  of  the 
Revolution.  It  was  of  such  stock  that  McKinley  came. 

As  a  young  lad  he  drew  a  little  more  than  the  ordinary  lot  in  the 
matter  of  education,  receiving  beside  the  public  school  study  a  course  in 
the  Poland  (Mahoney  County,  Ohio)  Academy  and  attending  for  a  short 
time  the  Methodist  Episcopal  College  at  Meadville,  Pa. 

When  the  Civil  War  broke  out  McKinley,  then  only  18  years  of 
age,  was  one  of  the  first  in  his  town  to  answer  his  country's  call.  He 
enlisted  in  the  Twenty-third  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry  as  a  private,  but 

19 


ao  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

he  did  not  long  remain  without  his  epaulets.  On  September  24,  1862,  he 
was  promoted  to  a  Second  Lieutenancy,  and  from  this  time  on  his  rise 
in  rank  was  steady.  February  7,  1863,  he  received  the  rank  of  First  Lieu- 
tenant, and  on  July  25,  1864,  he  won  his  epaulets  as  Captain.  President 
Lincoln  brevetted  him  Major  for  his  bravery  and  gallant  conduct  in  tEe 
battles  of  Fisher's  Hill,  Opequan  and  Cedar  Creek. 

McKinley  was  with  the  famous  Twenty-third  in  all  of  its  battles  and 
he  served  on  the  staffs  of  Major  General  Hancock  and  Samuel  S.  Carroll. 
He  was  mustered  out  with  his  regiment  on  July  26,  1865,  and  it  is  said 
that  so  great  was  his  liking  for  the  military  service  that  he  was  nearly 
persuaded  to  attach  himself  to  the  regular  army  with  General  Carroll. 
His  father  was  opposed  to  this,  however,  and  so  the  young  man  returned 
to  his  Ohio  home. 

After  studying  law  and  being  admitted  to  the  bar,  McKinley  opened 
an  office  in  Canton,  Stark  County,  in  1867.  In  1869  he  began  his  public 
career  aside  from  his  military  record  by  being  elected  Prosecuting  Attor- 
ney of  Stark  County.  From  then  on  he  rose  in  public  affairs  by  steady 
footsteps. 

He  was  elected  to  Congress  from  his  district  in  1876,  and  with  the 
exception  of  a  part  of  one  term  he  served  continuously  for  fourteen  years 
in  the  lower  House  of  Congress.  In  the  latter  part  pf  the  fourth  term  he 
was  unseated  and  his  Democratic  opponent,  the  late  Jonathan  Wallace,  of 
East  Liverpool,  took  his  place. 

Mr.  McKinley's  first  great  and  important  step  on  the  road  to  the 
Presidency  came  when  as  chairman  of  the  Ways  and  Means  Committee 
he  reported  the  famous  tariff  bill  of  1890.  This  measure  has  gone  down 
in  history  as  the  "McKinley  Tariff  Law,"  and,  heralded  by  this  name 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land,  it  brought  his  name  into 
national  prominence  for  the  first  time. 

In  spite  of  this,  however,  he  was  defeated  for  his  eighth  term  in  Con- 
gress by  a  small  majority,  but  as  a  compensation  to  his  hurt  pride  he  was 
elected  Governor  of  Ohio  in  1891.  His  plurality  was  21,511,  and  his 
increasing  popularity  is  shown  by  the  difference  between  this  and  his  next, 
which  was  80,995  in  his  re-election  as  Governor  in  1893. 

Besides  these  honors,  McKinley's  name  was  made  prominent  by  many 
lesser  distinctions.  In  1884  he  was  a  delegate  at  large  to  the  National 
Convention,  and  as  such  he  made  several  speeches  in  support  of  James 
G.  Elaine  as  nominee  for  President.  In  this  same  year,  also,  he  was  a 
member  of  the  Committee  on  Resolutions,  and  it  was  he  who  read  the  plat- 
form to  the  convention.  His  experience  at  this  convention  brought  him 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  21 

into  contact  and  into  the  notice  of  all  the  great  Republican  politicians  of 
that  time. 

He  was  again  a  delegate  at  large  from  Ohio  in  1888.  This  year  he 
supported  John  Sherman,  and  his  experience  at  the  previous  convention 
gave  him  many  of  the  same  honors.  He  was  again  sent  to  the  Committee 
on  Resolutions,  and  the  committee  again  chose  him  to  read  the  platform 
to  the  convention. 

In  1892  McKinley  was  for  the  third  time  delegate  at  large  from  Ohio, 
and  this  time  he  himself  was  in  the  race  for  the  nomination.  It  was  with- 
out his  consent,  however,  for  he  was  an  ardent  supporter  of  President 
Benjamin  Harrison  and  had  persistently  refused  to  have  his  own  name 
mentioned  as  even  a  possible  candidate.  In  spite  of  his  protestations, 
however,  182  votes  were  cast  for  him  in  the  early  ballots. 

It  was  McKinley's  increased  plurality  in  his  election  to  the  Governor's 
chair  in  Ohio  in  1893  that  made  him  generally  looked  upon  as  a  likely 
candidate  for  the  Republican  nomination  in  1896.  Both  of  his  elections 
in  Ohio  had  been  hotly  contested  along  tariff  grounds,  and  as  his  name  had 
been  so  closely  linked  with  the  policy  of  protective  tariff  through  the  "Mc- 
Kinley bill,"  it  was  taken  as  a  favorable  sign  by  the  prominent  politicians 
that  he  could  become  increasingly  popular  in  so  important  a  State  as  Ohio. 

According  to  these  prognostications  Mr.  McKinley's  name  was  one 
of  the  first  and  foremost  before  the  nominating  convention  which  met  in 
St.  Louis,  June  18,  1896,  and  he  was  nominated  on  a  platform  in  which 
the  currency  question  for  the  first  time  in  many  years  predominated  the 
tariff  issue.  He  received  661  out  of  a  total  of  905  votes. 

The  excitement  of  the  campaign  which  followed  is  recent  enough  to 
be  fresh  in  the  memory  of  most  high  school  students.  On  July  27  the 
Democratic  nominating  convention  was  held  in  Chicago.  In  the  big 
Coliseum,  which  has  since  burned,  William  Jennings  Bryan,  known  as 
"The  Silver-Tongued  Orator  of  the  Platte,"  made  his  famous  speech,  the 
issue  of  free  silver  under  Bryan's  impetus  swept  like  a  wave  over  the  con- 
vention, and  he  was  nominated  almost  by  acclamation. 

From  that  time  on  the  campaign  waged  about  the  single  issue  of  the 
free  coinage  of  silver,  and  politicians  declared  it  to  be  one  of  the  hottest 
fought  battles  in  the  history  of  the  two  great  political  parties.  The  end  of 
it  came  in  the  ensuing  November  election,  when  McKinley  was  elected 
President,  receiving  271  electoral  votes  against  176  for  Bryan. 

In  the  history  of  Mr.  McKinley's  first  term  in  the  Presidential  chair, 
his  conservative  handling  of  the  affairs  of  state  during  the  troublous  time 
of  the  Spanish  war  stands  out  conspicuously.  He  showed  wonderful  cool- 


22  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

ness  in  judgment  and  a  statesmanlike  bearing  toward  the  events  and  the 
problems  which  the  war  brought  before  him. 

From  the  blowing  up  of  the  United  States  battleship  Maine  in  Ha- 
vana Harbor,  February  15,  1898,  to  the  signing  of  the  protocol  August  12, 
it  was  generally  admitted  that  he  showed  a  power  and  a  dignity  com- 
patible with  his  position  at  the  head  of  a  nation  which  in  four  months' 
time  could  win  so  decisive  a  victory. 

There  is  little  doubt  in  the  minds  of  the  people  that  President  Mc- 
Kinley's  record  during  the  Spanish  war  went  a  great  way  toward  his 
renomination  and  re-election  to  his  second  term.  He  was  admittedly  the 
only  logical  candidate  when  the  Republican  Convention  met  in  Philadel- 
phia a  year  ago  last  June.  Again  it  was  a  battle  between  McKinley  and 
Bryan,  and  again  the  issue  was  free  silver.  Again  the  campaign  resulted 
in  the  election  of  McKinley,  and  he  took  his  seat  for  his  secood  term  in  the 
inauguration  of  March  4,  1901. 

When  President  McKinley  was  married,  on  January  25,  1871,  there 
was  a  pretty  story  told  to  the  effect  that  he  lost  his  first  case  and  won  his 
bride  at  the  same  time.  The  marriage,  which  ended  a  somewhat  long 
courtship,  was  the  beginning  of  one  of  the  most  ideal  unions.  He  and 
his  wife,  in  the  midst  of  the  cares  of  state  and  the  strife  of  politics,  main- 
tained for  thirty  years  all  the  love  and  harmony  which  make  the  humblest 
home  a  happy  one. 

MCKINLEY'S  HEROISM  ON  THE  BATTLEFIELD. 

President  McKinley's  personal  courage  was  always  typical  of  the 
very  highest  order  of  physical  bravery.  This  was  shown  in  each  and  every 
instance  where  he  was  brought  to  the  test.  He  was  possessed  of  what  the 
great  Napoleon  called  "two  o'clock  in  the  morning  courage,"  which  is 
a  rare  quality.  ,He  never  lost  his  head,  but  at  all  times  of  danger  was 
as  cool  and  calm  as  though  sitting  by  his  fireside. 

Napoleon  was  distinguished  by  this  sort  of  courage ;  so  were  the  Duke 
of  Wellington  and  General  Grant,  the  latter  possessing  it  in  perhaps  a 
higher  degree  than  the  two  others  mentioned.  The  mighty  Emperor  of 
the  French  after  exhibited  depression  of  mind,  or  excessive  elation,  but 
General  Grant's  demeanor  was  forever  calm  and  always  the  same.  Even 
Wellington,  the  "Iron  Duke,"  had  fits  of  anger;  Grant  never  betrayed 
passion.  He  was  a  sphinx ;  a  man  whom  none  could  fathom ;  impenetrable 
and  impassive. 

President  McKinley,  while  differing  from  General  Grant  in  many 
respects,  was  one  whose  face,  when  he  chose,  was  never  known  to  betray 


President   McKinley   Enro\ite   to   Grant's   Tomb,  on   Board  the  Dolphin 


President  McKinley  at  the  Unveiling  of  Grant's  Tomb 


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WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  23 

what  was  passing  in  his  mind.  His  self-control  was  always  beyond  the 
ability  of  any  man  to  define  it.  While  affable  and  genial,  none*  could  say 
he  ever  read  the  thoughts  of  his  inscrutable  face. 

General  Rutherford  B.  Hayes,  President  of  the  United  States  from 
1877  to  1 88 1,  and  a  gallant  and  capable  commander  during  the  Civil  War, 
paid  the  following  tribute  to  President  McKinley  in  an  address  at  Lake- 
side, O.,  on  July  30,  1891 : 

"Rather  more  than  thirty  years  ago  I  first  made  the  acquaintance  of 
Major  McKinley.  He  was  then  a  boy,  had  just  passed  the  age  of  17. 
He  had  before  that  taught  school,  and  was  coming  from  an  academy  to 
the  camp.  He  with  me  entered  upon  a  new,  strange  life — a  soldier's  life — 
in  time  of  actual  war.  We  were  in  a  fortunate  regiment — its  Colonel  was 
William  S.  Rosecrans — a  graduate  of  West  Point,  a  brave,  a  patriotic,  and 
an  able  man,  who  afterwards  came  to  command  great  armies  and  fight 
many  famous  battles.  Its  Lieutenant  Colonel  was  Stanley  Matthews — a 
scholar  and  able  lawyer,  who,  after  his  appointment  to  the  Supreme  Bench, 
the  whole  bar  of  the  United  States  was  soon  convinced,  was  of  unsurpassed 
ability  and  character  for  that  high  place. 

"In  this  regiment  Major  McKinley  came,  the  boy  I  have  described, 
carrying  his  musket  and  his  knapsack. 

"Young  as  he  was,  we  soon  found  that  in  business,  in  executive  ability, 
young  McKinley  was  a  man  of  rare  capacity,  of  unusual  and  unsurpassed 
capacity,  especially  for  a  boy  of  his  age.  When  battles  were  fought,  or 
service  was  to  be  performed  in  warlike  things  he  always  took  his  place. 
The  night  was  never  too  dark ;  the  weather  was  never  too  cold ;  there  was 
no  sleet,  or  storm,  or  hail,  or  snow,  or  rain  that  was  in  the  way  of  his 
prompt  and  efficient  performance  of  every  duty. 

"When  I  became  commander  of  the  regiment,  he  soon  came  to  be 
upon  my  staff,  and  he  remained  upon  my  staff  for  one  or  two  years,  so 
that  I  did  literally  and  in  fact  know  him  like  a  book  and  loved  him  like  a 
brother.  From  that  time  he  naturally  progressed,  for  his  talents  and 
capacity  could  not  be  unknown  to  the  staff  of  the  commander  of  the 
Army  of  West  Virginina,  George  Crook,  a  favorite  in  the  army  he  com- 
manded. He  wanted  McKinley,  and  of  course  it  was  my  duty  to  tell 
McKinley  he  must  leave  me.  The  bloodiest  day  of  the  war,  the  day  on 
which  more  men  were  killed  or  wounded  than  on  any  other  one  day — 
was  September  17,  1862,  in  the  battle  of  Antietam. 

"The  battle  began  at  daylight.  Before  daylight  men  were  in  the 
ranks  and  preparing  for  it.  Without  breakfast,  without  coffee,  they  went 
into  the  fight,  and  it  continued  until  after  the  sun  had  set.  The  com- 


24  WILLIAM'McKINLEY. 

missary  department  of  that  brigade  was  under  Sergeant  McKinley's 
administration  and  personal  supervision.  From  his  hands  every  man  in 
the  regiment  was  served  with  hot  coffee  and  warm  meats,  a  thing  that 
had  never  occurred  under  similar  circumstances  in  any  other  army  in  the 
world.  He  passed  under  fire  and  delivered,  with  his  own  hands,  these 
things,  so  essential  for  the  men  for  whom  he  was  laboring. 

"Coming  to  Ohio  and  recovering  from  wounds,  I  called  upon  Gover- 
nor Tod  and  told  him  this  incident.  With  the  emphasis  that  distinguished 
that  great  war  Governor,  he  said :  'Let  McKinley  be  promoted  from  Ser- 
geant to  Lieutenant,'  and  that  I  might  not  forget  he  requested  me  to  put 
it  upon  the  roster  of  the  regiment,  which  I  did,  and  McKinley  was  pro- 
moted. As  was  the  case,  perhaps,  with  many  soldiers,  I  did  not  keep  a 
diary  regularly  from  day  to  day,  but  I  kept  notes  of  what  was  transpiring. 
When  I  knew  that  I  was  to  come  here  it  occurred  to  me  to  open  the  old 
notebook  of  that  period  and  see  what  it  contained,  and  I  found  this  entry : 

"  'Saturday,  December  13,  1862. — Our  new  Second  Lieutenant,  Mc- 
Kinley, returned  today — an  exceedingly  bright,  intelligent,  and  gentle- 
manly young  officer.  He  promises  to  be  one  of  the  best.' 

"He  has  kept  the  promise  in  every  sense  of  the  word." 

PRESIDENT  MCKINLEY  A  DEVOTED  SOLDIER. 

President  McKinley  was  a  citizen  soldier  who  devoted  his  abilities 
and  highest  energies  to  the  service  of  his  country  at  a  time  when  the 
country  needed  them  most.  He  did  not  seek  preferment  as  an  officer,  but 
enlisting  as  a  private  in  the  ranks  rose  by  reason  of  merit  and  bravery  to 
the  brevet  rank  of  Major.  Everything  he  did  he  did  so  well  that  when  a 
task,  no  matter  how  unpleasant  or  disagreeable,  was  set  for  him  his 
superior  officers  knew  that  they  could  rest  contented — that  when  Mc- 
Kinley was  there  everything  in  his  charge  was  in  safe  keeping. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  war,  when  the  first  call  for  volunteers  came, 
among  the  first  to  enlist  were  young  McKinley  and  his  cousin,  William 
McKinley  Osborne,  later  General  Osborne,  the  American  Consul  General 
in  London.  The  latter  gives  the  following  account  of  their  enlistment : 

"There  was  a  great  excitement  at  that  time,  and  hundreds  of  people 
followed  the  soldiers.  Will  and  I  were  among  them.  We  drove  in  a 
buggy  over  to  Youngstown,  and  there  saw  the  company  leave  for  Colum- 
bus. On  our  way  back  to  Poland  that  night  we  discussed  the  matter  to- 
gether and  decided  it  was  our  duty  to  volunteer,  and  we  thought  that  the 
men  who  staid  would  be  despised  by  the  community. 

"When  we  reached  home  Will  told  his  mother  what  we  had  concluded 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  25 

to  do,  and  she  at  once  replied :  'Well,  boys,  if  you  think  it  is  your  duty  to 
fight  for  your  country  I  think  you  ought  to  go.'  A  few  days  after  this 
I  left  Poland  for  home,  and  told  father  that  I  wanted  to  go  to  the  army. 
I  knew  he  would  allow  me  to  go,  as  Aunt  Nancy  advised.  I  was  not  dis- 
appointed. My  father  was  a  Democrat,  but  he  was  a  liberal  man.  He 
told  me  I  could  do  as  I  wished,  and  he  gave  me  some  money  (it  was  gold, 
I  remember)  to  fit  me  out.  Will  McKinley  left  Poland,  and  we  went  to 
Cleveland  together.  From  there  we  went  to  Columbus  and  enlisted  there 
at  Camp  Chase.  General  Fremont  swore  us  in.  Our  enlistment  was  in 
cold  blood,  and  not  through  the  enthusiasm  of  the  moment.  It  was  done 
as  McKinley  has  done  the  most  things  of  his  life,  as  the  logical  offspring 
of  careful  conclusion." 

The  company  referred  to  by  General  Osborne  was  Company  E  of  the 
Twenty-third  Ohio  Infantry  Volunteers,  and  which  was  entirely  recruited 
from  Poland. 

Those  who  knew  McKinley  at  the  time  he  joined  his  regiment  little 
suspected  that  the  military  career  of  the  young  private  was  one  of  the 
stepping-stones  to  the  White  House.  And  little  did  that  young  private 
think,  at  that  time,  that  some  day  he  would  occupy  the  Presidential  chair, 
in  which  then  sat  the  sainted  Lincoln. 

The  Twenty-third  Ohio  was  early  in  active  service.  Toward  the  end 
of  July,  1861,  the  regiment  was  ordered  to  Clarksburg,  W.  Va.,  but  it  was 
not  until  the  September  following  that  it  was  introduced  to  real  fighting, 
and  which  occurred  at  Carnifex  Ferry.  In  the  spring  of  1862  the  regiment 
left  winter  quarters  and  moved,  under  the  command  of  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Hayes,  in  the  direction  of  Princeton.  The  Confederate  troops  who  were 
there  immediately  evacuated  the  place  and  the  Union  troops  took  pos- 
session of  it.  These  latter  were  subsequently  attacked  by  an  overwhelm- 
ing force  and  forced  to  retire.  For  three  weeks  following  that  period  the 
boys  of  the  Twenty-third  were  nearly  starved,  as  the  enemy  had  succeeded 
in  cutting  off  all  supplies.  These  experiences,  however,  were  but  the 
foretaste  of  the  two  great  events  of  that  year,  the  battles  of  South  Moun- 
tain and  Antietam,  in  which  the  Twenty-third  Ohio  took  a  prominent  part. 

After  several  moves  the  regiment  was  ordered  to  march  with  all  pos- 
sible speed  to  Camp  Piatt,  on  the  Great  Kanawha,  where  it  arrived  on 
August  18,  after  a  march  of  104  miles  in  a  little  over  three  days.  A  few 
days  later  McKinley  had  his  first  glimpse  of  Washington,  but  his  stay 
was  short,  for  the  regiment  was  again  on  the  march,  this  time  with  General 
McClellan's  army,  toward  Frederick  City,  at  which  place  they  dislodged 
the  rebels,  and  on  September  13  they  arrived  at  Middletown.  Here  was 


26  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

commenced  the  battle  of  South  Mountain,  culminating  in  the  great  battle 
of  Antietam  on  September  17.  It  was  at  Antietam  that  McKinley  first 
won  substantial  recognition,  being  promoted  to  a  Second  Lieutenancy  for 
gallant  conduct  on  that  bloody  field  of  battle. 

The  battle  of  Antietam  was  followed  by  engagements  at  Buffington's 
Island,  O.,  and  at  Cloyd  Mountain,  in  which  latter  the  Twenty-third  Ohio 
again  did  deeds  of  valor.  Several  other  battles  were  fought  between  the 
date  of  that  of  Cloyd  Mountain  and  July  24,  1864,  on  which  day  a  battle 
was  fought  at  Kernstown,  near  Winchester,  Va.,  in  which  the  Twenty- 
third  Ohio  lost  over  150  men  and  officers.  General  Russell  Hastings,  who 
took  part  in  it,  gives  a  glimpse  of  McKinley  during  that  engagement. 

They  were  in  the  same  regiment,  on  the  same  staff,  and  slept  under 
the  same  blanket.  On  the  Union  side  was  only  Crook's  corps,  some  6,000 
strong,  while  opposed  to  it  was  the  full  force  of  Early's  army.  The  odds 
were  too  great,  so,  after  some  severe  fighting,  Hayes'  brigade,  which  was 
engaged,  drew  back  in  the  direction  of  Winchester.  "Just  at  that  mo- 
ment," says  General  Hastings,  "it  was  discovered  that  one  of  the  regi- 
ments was  still  in  an  orchard  where  it  had  been  posted  at  the  beginning 
of  the  battle.  General  Hayes,  turning  to  Lieutenant  McKinley,  directed 
him  to  go  forward  and  bring  away  that  regiment,  if  it  had  not  already 
fallen.  McKinley  turned  his  horse  and,  keenly  spurring  it,  pushed  it  at 
a  fierce  gallop  obliquely  toward  the  advancing  enemy. 

"A  sad  look  came  over  Hayes'  face  as  he  saw  the  young,  gallant  boy 
pushing  rapidly  forward  to  almost  certain  death.  *  *  *  None  of  us 
expected  to  see  him  again,  as  we  watched  him  push  his  horse  through  the 
open  fields,  over  fences,  through  ditches,  while  a  well-directed  fire  from 
the  enemy  was  poured  upon  him,  with  shells  exploding  around,  about,  and 
over  him. 

"Once  he  was  completely  enveloped  in  the  smoke  of  an  exploding 
shell,  and  we  thought  he  had  gone  down,  but  no,  he  was  saved  for  better 
work  for  his  country  in  his  future  years.  Out  of  this  smoke  emerged  his 
wiry  little  brown  horse,  with  MaKinley  still  firmly  seated,  and  as  erect  as  a 
hussar. 

"McKinley  gave  the  Colonel  the  orders  from  Hayes  to  fall  back,  say- 
ing, in  addition,  'He  supposed  you  would  have  gone  to  the  rear  without 
orders.'  The  Colonel's  reply  was:  'I  was  about  concluding  I  would  retire 
without  waiting  any  longer  for  orders.  I  am  now  ready  to  go  wherever 
you  shall  lead,  but,  Lieutenant,  I  "pintedly"  believe  I  ought  to  give  those 
fellows  a  volley  or  two  before  I  go.'  McKinley's  reply  was:  'Then  up 
and  at  them,  as  quickly  as  possible,'  and  as  the  regiment  arose  to  its 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  27 

feet  the  enemy  came  on  into  full  view.  Colonel  Brown's  boys  gave  the 
enemy  a  crushing  volley,  following  it  up  with  a  rattling  fire,  and  then  slow- 
ly retreated  toward  some  woods  directly  in  their  rear.  At  this  time  the 
enemy  halted  all  along  Brown's  immediate  front  and  for  some  distance  to 
his  right  and  left,  no  doubt  feeling  he  was  touching  a  secondary  line, 
which  should  be  approached  with  all  due  caution.  During  this  hesitancy 
of  the  enemy  McKinley  led  the  regiment  through  these  woods  on  toward 
Winchester. 

"As  Hayes  and  Crook  saw  this  regiment  safely  off,  they  turned,  and, 
following  the  column,  with  it  moved  slowly  to  the  rear,  down  the  Win- 
chester pike.  At  a  point  near  Winchester  McKinley  brought  the  regiment 
to  the  column  and  to  its  place  in  the  brigade.  McKinley  greeted  us  all  with 
a  happy,  contented  smile — no  effusion,  no  gushing  palaver  of  words, 
though  all  of  us  felt  and  knew  one  of  the  most  gallant  acts  of  the  war  had 
been  performed. 

"As  McKinley  drew  up  by  the  side  of  Hayes  to  make  his  verbal  report, 
I  heard  Hayes  say  to  him,  'I  never  expected  to  see  you  in  life  again/  " 

The  last  engagement  of  national  importance,  which  practically  closed 
the  active  history  of  the  Twenty-third  Ohio  Regiment,  was  the  battle  of 
Cedar  Creek,  which  took  place  on  October  19,  1864.  Toward  the  close  of 
that  month  the  regiment  was  ordered  to  Martinsburg.  On  its  march  to 
that  point  the  men  voted  at  the  Presidential  election.  The  votes  were 
collected  by  the  judges  of  election  as  'the  column  was  in  march  from 
among  the  wagons.  It  was  there  McKinley  cast  his  first  vote.  An  ambu- 
lance was  used  as  an  election  booth,  and  an  empty  candle-box  did  duty  as  a 
ballot  box.  At  the  same  time  and  place  Generals  Sheridan,  Crook  and 
Hayes  cast  their  ballots,  and  it  was  the  first  vote  ever  cast  by  Sheridan  or 
Crook. 

Early  the  following  spring  the  Twenty-third  returned  to  Camp  Cum- 
berland and  on  July  26,  1865,  a  little  more  than  four  years  from  the  time 
of  enlistment,  the  regiment  was  mustered  out  and  the  scarred  veterans 
who  had  experienced  four  years  of  dangers  and  hardships  returned  to 
their  homes. 

The  records  show  that  William  McKinley,  Jr.,  enlisted  as  a  private 
in  Company  E  of  the  Twenty-third  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry  on  June  II, 
1861 ;  that  he  was  promoted  to  Commissary  Sergeant  on  April  15,  1862; 
that  he  was  promoted  to  Second  Lieutenant  of  Company  D  on  September 
23,  1862;  that  he  was  promoted  to  First  Lieutenant  of  Company  E  on 
February  7,  1863 ;  that  he  was  promoted  to  Captain  of  Company  G  on 
July  25,  1864;  that  he  was  detailed  as  Acting  Assistant  Adjutant  General 


28  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

of  the  First  Division,  First  Army  Corps,  on  the  staff  of  General  Carroll ; 
that  he  was  brevetted  Major  on  March  13,  1865,  and  that  he  was  mustered 
out  of  service  on  July  26,  1865. 

"For  gallant  and  meritorious  services  at  the  battles  of  Opequan,  Cedar 
Creek  and  Fisher's  Hill,"  reads  the  document  commissioning  young  Mc- 
Kinley  as  Brevet  Major,  signed  "A.  Lincoln." 

PRESIDENT  MCKINLEY'S  MASTERLY  ADDRESS  AT  BUFFALO. 

On  the  5th  of  September  President  McKinley  made  an  address  to  the 
thousands  gathered  to  hear  him  at  the  Exposition,  in  the  course  of  which 
he  gave  utterance  to  many  notable  and  thrilling  expressions  and  ideas. 
His  words  attracted  the  attention  of  the  entire  world,  particularly  those 
relating  to  the  expansion  of  the  commercial  field  wherein  the  products  and 
manufactures  of  the  United  States  were  to  take  precedence  of  those  of  all 
other  nations. 

The  President's  declaration,  also,  that  "We  must  build  the  Isthmian 
Canal,  which  will  unite  the  two  oceans  and  give  a  straight  line  of  water 
communication  with  the  western  coasts  of  Central  and  South  America 
and  Mexico,"  created  the  utmost  excitement  in  Europe. 

The  following  is  the  text  of  the  President's  address : 

"Expositions  are  the  timekeepers  of  progress.  They  record  the 
world's  advancement.  They  stimulate  the  energy,  enterprise  and  intellect 
of  the  people  and  quicken  human  genius.  They  go  into  the  home.  They 
broaden  and  brighten  the  daily  life  of  the  people.  They  open  mighty 
storehouses  of  information  to  the  student.  Every  exposition,  great  or 
small,  has  helped  to  some  onward  step. 

"Comparison  of  ideas  is  always  educational ;  and  as  such  instructs  the 
brain  and  hand  of  man.  Friendly  rivalry  follows,  which  is  the  spur  to 
industrial  improvement,  the  inspiration  to  useful  invention  and  to  high 
endeavor  in  all  departments  of  human  activity.  It  exacts  a  study  of  the 
wants,  comforts  and  even  the  whims  of  the  people  and  recognizes  the 
efficacy  of  high  quality  and  new  prices  to  win  their  favor.  The  quest  for 
trade  is  an  incentive  to  men  of  business  to  devise,  invent,  improve  and 
economize  in  the  cost  of  production. 

"Business  life,  whether  among  ourselves  or  with  other  people,  is  ever 
a  sharp  struggle  for  success.  It  will  be  none  the  less  so  in  the  future. 
Without  competition  we  would  be  clinging  to  the  clumsy  and  antiquated 
processes  of  farming  and  manufacture  and  the  methods  of  business  of 
long  ago  and  the  twentieth  would  be  no  further  advanced  than  the  eight- 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  29 

teenth  century.  But  though  commercial  competitors,  we  are  not  commer- 
cial enemies — we  must  not  be. 

"The  Pan-American  Exposition  has  done  its  work  thoroughly,  pre- 
senting in  its  exhibits  evidences  of  the  highest  skill  and  illustrating  the 
progress  of  the  human  family  in  the  Western  Hemisphere. 

"At  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  there  was  not  a  mile  of 
steam  railroad  on  the  globe.  Now  there  are  enough  miles  to  make  its 
circuit  many  times.  Then  there  was  not  a  line  of  electric  telegraph ;  now 
we  have  a  vast  mileage  traversing  all  lands  and  all  seas.  God  and  man 
have  linked  the  nations  together. 

"No  nation  can  longer  be  indifferent  to  any  other.  And  as  we  are 
brought  more  and  more  in  touch  with  each  other  the  less  occasion  is  there 
for  misunderstanding  and  the  stronger  the  disposition,  when  we  have  dif- 
ferences, to  adjust  them  in  the  Court  of  Arbitration,  which  is  the  noblest 
form  for  the  settlement  of  international  disputes. 

"My  fellow  citizens,  trade  statistics  indicate  that  this  country  is  in  a 
state  of  unexampled  prosperity.  The  figures  are  almost  appalling.  They 
show  that  we  are  utilizing  our  fields  and  forests  and  mines  and  that  we 
are  furnishing  profitable  employment  to  the  millions  of  workingmen 
throughout  the  United  States,  bringing  comfort  and  happiness  to  their 
homes  and  making  it  possible  to  lay  by  savings  for  old  age  and  disability. 
That  all  the  people  are  participating  in  this  great  prosperity  is  seen  in  every 
American  community  and  shown  by  the  enormous  and  unprecedented 
deposits  in  our  savings  banks.  Our  duty  is  the  care  and  security  of  these 
deposits,  and  their  safe  investment  demands  the  highest  integrity  and  the 
best  business  capacity  of  those  in  charge  of  these  depositories  of  the  peo- 
ple's earnings. 

"We  have  a  vast  and  intricate  business,  built  up  through  years  of 
toil  and  struggle,  in  which  every  part  of  the  country  has  its  stake,  which 
will  not  permit  of  either  neglect,  or  of  undue  selfishness.  No  narrow, 
sordid  policy  will  subserve  it.  The  greatest  skill  and  wisdom  on  the  part 
of  manufacturers  and  producers  will  be  required  to  hold  and  increase  it. 

"Our  industrial  enterprises  which  have  grown  to  such  great  propor- 
tions affect  the  homes  and  occupations  of  the  people  and  the  welfare  of  the 
country.  Our  capacity  to  produce  has  developed  so  enormously  and  our 
products  have  so  multiplied  that  the  problem  of  more  markets  requires  our 
urgent  and  immediate  attention.  Only  a  broad  and  enlightened  policy  will 
keep  what  we  have. 

"No  other  policy  will  get  more.  In  these  times  of  marvelous  business 
energy  and  gain  we  ought  to  be  looking  to  the  future,  strengthening  the 


30  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

weak  places  in  our  industrial  and  commercial  systems,  that  we  may  be 
ready  for  any  storm  or  strain. 

"By  sensible  trade  arrangements  which  will  not  interrupt  our  home 
production,  we  shall  extend  the  outlets  for  our  increasing  surplus.  A  sys- 
tem which  provides  a  mutual  exchange  of  commodities,  a  mutual  exchange 
is  manifestly  essential  to  the  continued  and  healthful  growth  of  our  export 
trade.  We  must  not  repose  in  fancied  security  that  we  can  forever  sell 
everything  and  buy  little  or  nothing.  If  such  a  thing  were  possible,  it 
would  not  be  best  for  us  or  for  those  with  whom  we  deal.  We  should 
take  from  our  customers  such  of  their  products  as  we  can  use  without 
harm  to  our  industries  and  labor. 

"Reciprocity  is  the  natural  outgrowth  of  our  wonderful  industrial 
development,  under  the  domestic  policy  now  firmly  established.  What  we 
produce  beyond  our  domestic  consumption  must  have  a  vent  abroad.  The 
excess  must  be  relieved  through  a  foreign  outlet,  and  we  should  sell  every- 
where we  can  and  buy  wherever  the  buying  will  enlarge  our  sales  and  pro- 
ductions, and  thereby  make  a  greater  demand  for  home"  labor. 

"The  period  of  exclusiveness  is  past.  The  expansion  of  our  trade  and 
commerce  is  the  pressing  problem.  Commercial  wars  are  unprofitable. 
A  policy  of  good-will  and  friendly  trade  relations  will  prevent  reprisals. 
Reciprocity  treaties  are  in  harmony  with  the  spirit  of  the  times ;  measures 
of  retaliation  are  not. 

"If  perchance  some  of  our  tariffs  are  no  longer  needed  for  revenue  or 
to  encourage  and  protect  our  industries  at  home,  why  should  they  not  be 
employed  to  extend  and  promote  our  markets  abroad?  Then,  too,  we 
have  inadequate  steamship  service.  New  lines  of  steamers  have  already 
been  put  in  commission  between  the  Pacific  coast  ports  of  the  United 
States  and  those  of  the  western  coasts  of  Mexico  and  Central  and  South 
America.  These  should  be  followed  up  with  direct  steamship  lines  be- 
tween the  eastern  coast  of  the  United  States  and  South  American  ports. 

"One  of  the  needs  of  the  times  is  direct  commercial  lines  from  our 
vast  fields  of  production  to  the  fields  of  consumption  that  we  have  but 
barely  touched.  Next  in  advantage  to  having  the  thing  to  sell  is  to  have 
the  convenience  to  carry  it  to  the  buyer.  We  must  encourage  our  merchant 
marine.  We  must  have  more  ships.  They  must  be  under  the  American 
flag,  built  and  manned  and  owned  by  Americans.  These  will  not  only  be 
profitable  in  a  commercial  sense;  they  will  be  messengers  of  peace  and 
amity  wherever  they  go. 

"We  must  build  the  Isthmian  Canal,  which  will  unite  the  two  oceans 
and  give  a  straight  line  of  water  communication  with  the  western  coasts 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  31 

of  Central  and  South  America  and  Mexico.     The  construction  of  a  Pacific 
cable  cannot  be  longer  postponed. 

"In  the  furtherance  of  these  objects  of  national  interest  and  concern 
you  are  performing  an  important  part.  This  exposition  would  have 
touched  the  heart  of  that  American  statesman  whose  mind  was  ever  alert 
and  thought  ever  constant  for  a  larger  commerce  and  a  truer  fraternity  of 
the  republics  of  the  New  World. 

"His  broad  American  spirit  is  felt  and  manifested  here.  He  needs  no 
identification  to  an  assemblage  of  Americans  anywhere,  for  the  name  of 
Elaine  is  inseparably  associated  with  the  Pan-American  movement  which 
finds  this  practical  and  substantial  expression  and  which  we  all  hope  will 
be  firmly  advanced  by  the  Pan-American  Congress  that  assembles  this 
autumn  in  the  capital  of  Mexico. 

"The  good  work  will  go  on.  It  cannot  be  stopped.  These  buildings 
will  disappear;  this  creation  of  art  and  beauty  and  industry  will  perish 
from  sight,  but  their  influence  will  remain  to 

"  'Make  it  live  beyond  its  too  short  living, 
With  praises  and  thanksgiving.' 

"Who  can  tell  the  new  thoughts  that  have  been  awakened,  the  ambi- 
tions fired  and  the  high  achievements  that  will  be  wrought  through  this 
exposition?  Gentlemen,  let  us  ever  remepiber  that  our  interest  is  in 
concord,  not  conflict,  and  that  our  real  eminence  rests  in  the  victories  of 
peace,  not  those  of  war.  We  hope  that  all  who  are  represented  here  may 
be  moved  to  higher  and  nobler  effort  for  their  own  and  the  world's  good, 
and  that  out  of  this  city  may  come,  not  only  greater  commerce  and  trade 
for  us  all,  but,  more  essential  than  these,  relations  of  mutual  respect,  con- 
fidence and  friendship  which  will  deepen  and  endure. 

"Our  earnest  prayer  is  that  God  will  graciously  vouchsafe  prosperity, 
happiness  and  peace  to  all  our  neighbors,  and  like  blessings  to  all  the  peo- 
ples and  powers  of  earth." 

McKiNLEY's  TRIBUTE  TO  LINCOLN. 

One  of  the  most  touching,  feeling  and  tender  tributes  ever  paid  to  the 
memory  of  Abraham  Lincoln  was  contained  in  the  address  of  Major  Mc- 
Kinley  before  the  Unconditional  Republican  Club  at  Albany,  N.  Y.,  on 
February  I2th  (Lincoln's  birthday),  1895,  tne  vear  before  McKinley's 
first  nomination  to  the  Presidency.  In  the  course  of  his  remarks  he  said : 

"A  noble  manhood,  nobly  consecrated  to  man,  never  dies.  The  mar- 
tyr of  liberty,  the  emancipator  of  a  race,  the  savior  of  the  only  free  gov- 


32  W I LLI  AM    M  cKI  N LEY. 

ernment  among  men,  may  be  buried  from  human  sight,  but  his  deeds  will 
live  in  human  gratitude  forever. 

"The  story  of  his  simple  life  is  the  story  of  the  plain,  honest,  manly 
citizen,  true  patriot  and  profound  statesman  who,  believing  with  all  the 
strength  of  his  mighty  soul  in  the  institutions  of  his  country,  won,  because 
of  them,  the  highest  place  in  its  Government — then  fell  a  sacrifice  to  the 
Union  he  held  so  dear,  and  which  Providence  spared  his  life  long  enough 
to  save. 

"We  meet  tonight  to  do  honor  to  one  whose  achievements  have 
heightened  human  aspirations  and  broadened  the  field  of  opportunity  to 
the  races  of  men.  While  the  party  with  which  we  stand,  and  for  which 
we  stood,  can  justly  claim  him,  and  without  dispute  can  boast  the  distinc- 
tion of  being  the  first  to  honor  and  trust  him,  his  fame  has  leaped  the 
bounds  of  party  and  county,  and  now  belongs  to  mankind  and  the  ages. 

"Lincoln  had  sublime  faith  in  the  people.  He  walked  with  and  among 
them.  He  recognized  the  importance  and  power  of  an  enlightened  public 
sentiment  and  was  guided  by  it.  Even  amid  the  vicissitudes  of  war  he 
concealed  little  from  public  review  and  inspection.  In  all  he  did  he  in- 
vited rather  than  evaded  examination  and  criticism.  He  submitted  his 
plans  and  purposes,  as  far  as  practicable,  to  public  consideration  with  per- 
fect frankness  and  sincerity.  There  was  such  homely  simplicity  in  his 
character  that  it  could  not  b'e  hedged  in  by  the  pomp  of  place,  nor  the 
ceremonials  of  high  official  station. 

"He  was  so  accessible  to  the  public  that  he  seemed  to  take  the  peo- 
ple into  his  confidence.  Here,  perhaps,  was  one  secret  of  his  power.  The 
people  never  lost  their  confidence  in  him,  however  much  they  uncon- 
sciously added  to  his  personal  discomfort  and  trials. 

"The  greatest  names  in  American  history  are  Washington  and  Lin- 
coln. One  is  forever  associated  with  the  independence  of  the  States  and 
formation  of  the  Federal  Union;  the  other  with  universal  freedom  and 
the  preservation  of  the  Union. 

"Washington  enforced  the  Declaration  of  Independence  as  against 
England;  Lincoln  proclaimed  its  fulfillment  not  only  to  a  down-trodden 
race  in  America,  but  to  all  people  for  all  time  who  may  seek  the  protection' 
of  our  flag.  These  illustrious  men  achieved  grander  results  for  man- 
kind within  a  single  century,  from  1775  to  1865,  than  any  other  men  ever 
accomplished  in  all  the  years  since  first  the  flight  of  time  began.  Wash- 
ington engaged  in  no  ordinary  revolution ;  with  him  it  was  not  who  should 
rule,  but  what  should  rule.  He  drew  his  sword  not  for  a  change  of  rulers 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  33 

upon  an  established  throne,  but  to  establish  a  new  government  which 
should  acknowledge  no  throne  but  the  tribune  of  the  people. 

"Lincoln  accepted  war  to  save  the  Union,  the  safeguard  of  our  lib- 
erties, and  re-establish  it  on  'indestructible  foundations'  as  forever  'one  and 
indivisible.'  To  quote  his  own  grand  words:  Now  we  are  contending 
'that  this  nation,  under  God,  shall  have  a  new  birth  of  freedom,  and  that 
government  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  for  the  people,  shall  not  perish 
from  the  earth.' 

"Lincoln  was  a  man  of  moderation.  He  was  neither  an  autocrat  nor 
a  tyrant.  If  he  moved  slowly  sometimes,  it  was  because  it  was  better  to 
move  slowly  and  he  was  only  waiting  for  his  reserves  to  come  up.  Pos- 
sessing almost  unlimited  power,  he  yet  carried  himself  like  one  of  the 
humblest  of  men.  He  weighed  every  subject.  He  considered  and  re- 
flected upon  every  phase  of  public  duty. 

"He  got  the  average  judgment  of  the  plain  people.  He  had  a  high 
sense  of  justice,  a  clear  understanding  of  the  rights  of  others,  and  never 
needlessly  inflicted  an  injury  upon  any  man.  He  always  taught  and  en- 
forced the  doctrine  of  mercy  and  charity  on  every  occasion. 

"Even  in  the  excess  of  rejoicing,  he  said  to  a  party  who  came  to 
serenade  him  a  few  nights  after  the  Presidential  election  in  November, 
1864 :  'Now  that  the  election  is  over,  may  not  all  having  a  common  interest 
reunite  in  a  common  effort  to  save  our  common  country  ?  So  long  as  I 
have  been  here  I  have  not  willingly  planted  a  thorn  in  any  man's  bosom. 
While  I  am  deeply  sensible  to  the  high  compliment  of  a  re-election,  and 
duly  grateful,  as  I  trust,  to  Almighty  God  for  having  directed  my  country- 
men to  a  right  conclusion,  as  I  think,  for  their  own  good,  it  adds  nothing 
to  my  satisfaction  that  any  other  man  may  be  disappointed  or  pained  by 
the  result.' " 


CHAPTER  II. 

ASSASSINATION  OF  PRESIDENT  McKiNLEY — SHOT  DOWN  IN  THE  Music 
HALL  AT  THE  PAN-AMERICAN  EXPOSITION  AT  BUFFALO  BY  AN  ASSAS- 
SIN WHO  CONCEALED  His  REVOLVER  IN  THE  FOLDS  OF  A  HANDKER- 
CHIEF— FELLOW-CONSPIRATOR  HOLDS  THE  PRESIDENT'S  RIGHT  HAND 
IN  ORDER  TO  GIVE  THE  MURDERER  AN  OPPORTUNITY  TO  ACCOMPLISH 
His  PURPOSE — CAPTURE  OF  THE  ASSASSIN  AND  ESCAPE  OF  His  AC- 
COMPLICE. 


President  McKinley  was  shot  twice  by  an  anarchist  named  Leon 
Czolgosz  (pronounced  "Tsholgosch")  on  the  afternoon  of  September  6th 
in  the  Music  Hall  of  the  Pan-American  Exposition  at  Buffalo,  as  the 
Chief  Magistrate  was  extending  his  hand  to  shake  hands  with  his  assassin. 

Just  in  front  of  Czolgosz,  in  the  line  of  people  passing  along  in  front 
of  the  President,  was  a  fellow-conspirator,  an  Italian,  who,  when  Major 
McKinley  grasped  him  by  the  hand,  held  the  President's  hand  in  his  own 
for  quite  a  length  of  time,  thus  enabling  the  assassin  to  press  his  revolver 
against  the  person  of  the  Chief  Magistrate  and  fire.  All  this  occurred  in 
such  a  short  space  of  time  that  those  at  the  side  of  the  President  could  not 
gather  their  wits  quickly  enough  to  interfere  and  prevent  the  consumma- 
tion of  the  horrible  deed. 

It  was  about  four  o'clock ;  three  thousand  persons  had  crowded  into 
the  Temple  of  Music,  while  ten  thousand  others  stood  outside  the  temple 
waiting  for  a  chance  to  enter  and  shake  hands  with  the  President. 

Among  those  in  line  was  Czolgosz,  whose  right  hand  was  wrapped  in 
a  handkerchief.  Folded  in  the  handkerchief  was  a  32-caliber  derringer, 
holding  but  two  bullets. 

A  little  girl  was  led  up  by  her  father,  and  the  President  shook  hands 
with  her.  As  she  passed  along  to  the  right  the  President  looked  after  her 
smilingly  and  waved  his  hand  in  a  pleasant  adieu. 

Next  in  line  came  a  boyish-featured  man  about  26  years  old,  pre- 
ceded by  a  short  Italian  who  leaned  backward  against  the  bandaged  hand 
of  his  follower.  Foster  and  Ireland,  the  secret  service  officers,  who  con- 
stantly attended  the  President,  noted  this  man,  their  attention  being  first 

34 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  35 

attracted  by  the  Italian,  whose  dark,  shaggy  brows  and  black  mustache 
caused  the  professional  protectors  to  regard  him  with  suspicion. 

The  man  with  the  bandaged  hand  and  innocent  face  received  no  atten- 
tion from  the  detectives  beyond  the  mental  observation  that  his  right  hand 
was  apparently  injured,  and  that  he  would  present  his  left  hand  to  the 
President. 

The  Italian  stood  before  the  palm  bower.  He  held  the  President's 
right  hand  so  long  that  the  officers  stepped  forward  to  break  the  clasp, 
and  make  room  for  the  man  with  the  bandaged  hand,  who  extended  the 
left  member  towards  the  President's  right. 

The  President  smiled  and  presented  his  right  hand  in  a  position  to 
meet  the  left  of  the  approaching  man.  Hardly  a  foot  of  space  intervened 
between  the  bodies  of  the  two  men.  Before  their  hands  met  two  pistol 
shots  were  fired  and  the  President  turned  slightly  to  the  left  and  reeled. 

The  first  bullet  struck  the  sternum  in  the  President's  chest,  deflected 
to  the  right,  and  traveled  beneath  the  skin  to  a  point  directly  below  the 
right  nipple. 

The  second  bullet  penetrated  the  abdomen  and  pierced  both  walls  of 
the  stomach  and  lodged  in  the  back. 

Only  a  superficial  wound  was  caused  by  the  first  bullet,  and  within 
five  minutes  after  the  physicians  reached  the  President  it  had  been  re- 
moved. 

The  second  bullet  was  not  found.  An  operation  was  performed  on 
the  President  at  the  Emergency  Hospital  on  the  Exposition  grounds  at  6 
o'clock  by  Dr.  Matthew  D.  Mann,  Dr.  John  Parmenter,  and  Dr.  Herman 
Mynter.  The  President's  stomach  was  opened,  but  the  bullet  was  not 
found. 

The  bandage  on  the  hand  of  the  tall,  innocent-looking  young  man  had 
concealed  a  revolver.  He  had  fired  through  the  bandage  without  remov- 
ing any  portion  of  the  handkerchief. 

The  first  bullet  entered  too  high  for  the  purpose  of  the  assassin,  who 
had  fired  again  as  soon  as  his  finger  could  move  the  trigger. 

On  receiving  the  first  shot  President  McKinley  lifted  himself  on  his 
toes  with  something  of  a  gasp.  His  movement  caused  the  second  shot  to 
enter  just  below  the  navel.  With  the  second  shot  the  President  doubled 
slightly  forward  and  then  sank  back.  Detective  Geary  caught  the  Pres- 
ident in  his  arms,  and  President  Milbura  helped  to  support  him. 

When  the  President  fell  into  the  arms  of  Detective  Geary  he  coolly 
asked:  "Am  I  shot?" 


36  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

Geary  unbuttoned  the  President's  vest,  and,  seeing-  blood,  replied :  "I 
fear  you  are,  Mr.  President." 

It  had  all  happened  in  an  instant.  Almost  before  the  noise  of  the 
second  shot  sounded  Czolgosz  was  seized  by  S.  R.  Ireland,  United  States 
secret  service  man,  who  stood  directly  opposite  the  President.  Ireland 
hurled  him  to  the  floor,  and  as  he  fell  a  negro  waiter,  John  Parker,  leaped 
upon  him.  Soldiers  of  the  United  States  artillery  detailed  at  the  reception 
sprang  upon  them  and  he  was  surrounded  by  a  squad  of  Exposition  police 
and  secret  service  detectives.  Detective  Gallagher  seized  Czolgosz's  hand, 
tore  away  the  handkerchief,  and  took  the  revolver. 

The  artillerymen,  seeing  the  revolver  in  Gallagher's  hand,  rushed  at 
him  and  handled  him  rather  roughly.  Meantime  Ireland  and  the  negro 
held  the  would-be  assassin,  endeavoring  to  shield  him  from  the  attacks  of 
the  infuriated  artillerymen  and  the  blows  of  the  policemen's  clubs. 

Supported  by  Detective  Geary  and  President  Milburn,  and  surrounded 
by  Secretary  George  B.  Cortelyou  and  half  a  dozen  Exposition  officials, 
the  President  was  assisted  to  a  chair.  His  face  was  white,  but  he  made 
no  outcry. 

Soon  after  the  shooting  Czolgosz  was  asked  why  he  shot  the  Presi- 
dent. He  said : 

"I  am  an  anarchist,  and  I  did  my  duty." 

The  President  sank  back  with  one  hand  holding  his  abdomen,  the 
other  fumbling  at  his  breast.  His  eyes  were  open  and  he  was  clearly 
conscious  of  all  that  had  transpired.  He  looked  up  into  President  Mil- 
burn's  face  and  gasped:  "Cortelyou."  The  President's  secretary  bent 
over  him.  "Cortelyou,"  said  the  President,  "my  wife,  be  careful  about 
her,  don't  let  her  know." 

Moved  by  a  paroxysm,  he  writhed  to  the  left,  and  then  his  eyes  fell 
on  the  prostrate  form  of  the  would-be  assassin,  Czolgosz,  lying  on  the 
floor  bloody  and  helpless  beneath  the  blows  of  the  guard. 

The  President  raised  his  right  hand,  red  with  his  own  blood,  and 
placed  it  on  the  shoulder  of  his  secretary.  "Let  no  one  hurt  him,"  he 
gasped,  and  sank  back  in  the  chair,  while  the  guards  carried  Czolgosz  out 
of  his  sight. 

The  ambulance  from  the  Exposition  Hospital  was  summoned  imme- 
diately and  the  President,  still  conscious,  sank  upon  the  stretcher.  Secre- 
tary Cortelyou  and  Mr.  Milburn  rode  with  him  in  the  ambulance,  and  in 
nine  minutes  after  the  shooting  the  President  was  awaiting  the  arrival  of 
surgeons,  who  had  been  summoned  from  all  sections  of  the  city,  and  by 
special  train  from  Niagara  Falls. 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  37 

The  President  continued  conscious  and  conversed  with  Mr.  Cortelyou 
and  Mr.  Milburn  on  his  way  to  the  hospital.  "I  am  sorry,"  he  said,  "to 
have  been  the  cause  of  trouble  to  the  Exposition." 

Three  thoughts  had  found  expression  with  the  President:  first,  that 
the  news  should  be  kept  from  his  wife ;  second,  that  the  would-be  assassin 
should  not  be  harmed ;  and,  third,  regret  that  the  tragedy  might  hurt  the 
Exposition. 

The  news  that  the  President  had  been  shot  passed  across  the  Exposi- 
tion grounds  with  almost  incredible  speed,  and  the  crowd  around  the 
Temple  grew  until  it  counted  50,000  persons.  This  big  crowd  followed 
the  ambulance  respectfully  to  the  hospital,  then  divided  itself  into  two 
parts,  one  anxious  to  learn  the  condition  of  the  President  and  to  catch 
every  rumor  that  came  from  the  hospital,  the  other  eager  to  find  the 
assassin  and  to  punish  him. 

Certain  it  is  that  if  the  officials  had  not  used  remarkable  diligence  in 
taking  Czolgosz  out  of  the  way  of  the  crowd  he  would  have  been  mobbed 
and  beaten  to  death. 

Czolgosz  had  been  carried  into  a  side  room  at  the  northwest  corner  of 
the  Temple.  There  he  was  searched,  but  nothing  was  found  upon  him 
except  a  letter  relating  to  lodging.  The  officers  washed  the  blood  from 
his  face  and  asked  him  who  he  was  and  why  he  had  tried  to  kill  the  Presi- 
dent. He  made  no  answer  at  first,  but  finally  gave  the  name  of  Nieman. 

The  prisoner  is  of  medium  height,  smooth  shaven,  brown-haired,  and 
was  dressed  in  the  ordinary  clothes  of  a  mechanic.  He  offered  no  expla- 
nation of  the  deed  except  that  he  was  an  anarchist  and  had  done  his  duty. 

A  detail  of  Exposition  guards  was  sent  for  a  company  of  soldiers.  A' 
carriage  was  summoned.  South  of  the  Temple  a  space  had  been  roped 
off.  The  crowd  tore  out  the  iron  stanchion  holding  the  ropes  and  carried 
the  ropes  to  the  flagpole  standing  near  by  on  the  esplanade. 

"Lynch  him,"  cried  a  hundred  voices,  and  a  start  was  made  for  one 
of  the  entrances  of  the  Temple.  Soldiers  and  police  beat  back  the  crowd. 
Guards  and  people  were  wrangling,  shouting,  and  fighting. 

In  this  confusion,  Czolgosz,  still  bleeding,  his  clothes  torn,  and 
scarcely  able  to  walk,  was  led  out  by  Captain  James  F.  Vallaly,  chief  of 
the  Exposition  detectives ;  Commandant  Robinson,  and  a  squad  of  secret 
service  men. 

Czolgosz  was  thrown  into  a  carriage,  and  three  detectives  jumped  in 
with  him.  Captain  Vallaly  jumped  on  the  driver's  seat  and  lashed  the 
horses  into  a  gallop. 

The  crowd  burst  into  a  roar  of  rage.    "Murderer!"    "Assassin!" 


38  WILLIAM    McKINLE-Y. 

"Lynch,  hang  him !"  was  yelled.  Men  sprang  at  the  horses  and  clutched 
at  the  whirling  wheels  of  the  carriage. 

The  prisoner  huddled  back  in  the  corner,  concealed  between  two 
detectives. 

"The  rope!  The  rope!"  yelled  thousands  in  the  crowd,  and  they 
started  forward  all  in  one  grand  fight,  the  soldiers  to  save  and  the  citizens 
to  take  a  murderer's  life. 

Soldiers  fought  a  way  clear  at  the  heads  of  the  horses,  and,  pursued 
by  the  infuriated  thousands,  the  carriage  whirled  across  the  esplanade,  the 
horses  at  full  gallop  across  the  triumphal  causeway,  and  vanished  through 
the  Lincoln  Parkway  gate,  galloping  down  Delaware  Avenue  until  police 
headquarters  was  reached. 

Thousands  left  the  Exposition  grounds,  and,  learning  that  the  assassin 
had  been  taken  to  police  headquarters,  followed  there,  willing  to  do  violent 
justice  if  the  President  had  died. 

As  evening  came  on  the  numbers  grew  so  that  the  multitudes  blocked 
all  the  streets  in  the  vicinity  of  the  police  headquarters.  Tens  of  thou- 
sands were  asking  one  another  if  the  President  was  still  alive. 

All  efforts  of  the  police  to  disperse  the  crowds  were  vain  and  futile. 
The  roar  of  conversation  of  this  mass  of  people  penetrated  even  to  the 
cell  where  Czolgosz  lay. 

Now  and  then  the  crowd  would  surge  over  to  one  of  the  newspaper 
offices,  where  bulletins  were  posted,  and  cheer  wildly  when  the  statement 
was  flashed  out  that  hope  was  entertained. 

While  this  crowd  threatened  the  life  of  the  murderer  every  effort  was 
being  made  to  offer  scientific  aid  to  the  President  and  to  bring  to  his  bed- 
side the  best  surgeons  that  could  be  secured.  Dr.  E.  W.  Lee  of  St.  Louis, 
Dr.  Storer  of  Chicago,  and  Dr.  Van  Peyms  of  Buffalo  were  on  the 
grounds  and  joined  the  hospital  staff.  Dr.  Matthew  D.  Mann,  Dr.  Her- 
man Mynter,  and  Dr.  John  Parmenter  were  summoned  by  telephone,  and 
Drs.  Harrington  and  Stockton  were  brought  to  the  grounds  in  swift  auto- 
mobiles. 

The  President  was  borne  from  the  Temple  of  Music  at  4:14  o'clock 
by  Drs.  Hall,  Ellis,  and  Mann,  Jr.,  in  charge  of  the  ambulance.  The 
crowd  fell  back  when  it  saw  the  figure  of  the  President  on  the  stretcher. 
There  was  no  need  for  the  police  to  ask  the  crowd  to  move  back  along  the 
Court  of  Fountains,  and  through  the  Mall  the  crowd  itself  cleared  a  path- 
way, crying,  "Keep  back !"  "Keep  back !"  "Make  way !" 

Colonel  Chapin  of  General  Roe's  staff,  with  the  mounted  escort  which 
had  accompanied  President  McKinley  in  his  outdoor  appearances  since  his 


President  William  McKimley 


President  McKinley  Making  His  Celebrated  Speech  at  Buffalo 


WILLIAM    Me  KIN  LEY.  43 

arrival  in  Buffalo,  surrounded  the  ambulance,  and  at  full  gallop  they 
whirled  to  the  hospital. 

Six  doctors  were  at  the  President's  side  within  thirty  seconds  after 
his  arrival,  and  the  nurses  had  made  ready  for  the  task  of  the  surgeons. 
Outside  the  hospital  the  police  established  safety  lines  and  the  crowd  fell 
back,  thousands  remaining  there  -for  hours  and  whispering  questions  to 
those  who  went  in  and  out  of  the  hospital. 

The  President  was  stripped  and  placed  where  the  surgeons  might 
see  his  wounds.  In  the  room  with  the  President  were  Mr.  Milburn  and 
Secretary  Cortelyou.  In  the  hall  of  the  hospital  were  Chairman  John  N. 
Scatherd  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Exposition  and  Secretary  of 
Agriculture  Wilson.  Melville  C.  Hanna  of  Cleveland  was  also  present. 

At  the  hospital  the  first  assistance  was  rendered  by  Dr.  Edward  Wal- 
lace Lee,  the  medical  director  of  the  Omaha  Exposition.  The  President 
recognized  him  and  said :  "Doctor,  do  whatever  is  necessary." 

The  hospital  stewards  were  busy  removing  the  President's  apparel 
when  Dr.  Herman  Mynter  arrived.  The  surgeons  consulted  and  hesi- 
tated about  performing  an  operation.  The  President  reassured  them  by 
expressing  his  confidence,  but  no  decision  was  reached  when  Dr.  Mann 
of  the  Exposition  hospital  staff  arrived.  After  another  consultation  Dr. 
Mann  informed  the  President  that  an  operation  was  necessary. 

"All  right,"  replied  the  President.  "Go  ahead.  Do  whatever  is 
proper." 

The  anaesthetic  administered  was  ether,  and  for  two  and  a  half  hours 
the  President  was  under  the  influence  of  this.  The  President  came  out 
of  the  operation  strong,  with  a  good  pulse  and  steady  heart  action. 

Immediately  after  concluding  the  operation  Dr.  Lee  declared  that  it 
was  his  opinion  the  President  would  not  survive,  as  a  large  quantity  of 
fluid  from  the  stomach  had  entered  the  abdominal  cavity,  and  the  liability 
to  blood  poisoning  or  peritonitis  was  exceedingly  great.  After  the  opera- 
tion the  patient  rested  quietly. 

At  the  operation  it  was  found  that  the  second  and  serious  wound  was 
a  bullet  hole  in  the  abdomen,  about  five  inches  below  the  left  nipple  and 
an  inch  and  a  half  to  the,  left  of  the  median  line.  The  bullet  which  caused 
that  wound  penetrated  both  the  interior  and  posterior  walls  of  the  stomach, 
going  completely  through  that  organ. 

It  was  found  also  that  as  a  consequence  of  the  perforation  the  stom- 
ach fluid  had  circulated  about  the  abdominal  cavity. 

Further  examination  disclosed  that  the  hole  made  by  the  entrance  of 


44  WILLIAM    Me  KIN  LEY. 

the  bullet  was  small  and  clean  cut,  while  that  on  the  other  side  of  the 
stomach  was  large  and  ragged. 

A  five-inch  incision  was  made,  and  through  that  aperture  the  physi- 
cians were  enabled  to  turn  the  organ  about  so  as  to  suture  the  larger  bullet 
hole.  After  that  had  been  sewed  the  abdominal  cavity  was  washed  with 
a  salt  solution. 

The  other  and  slighter  wound  was  directly  in  the  middle  of  the 
breast  above  the  breast  bone.  The  ball  evidently  had  struck  the  flesh  at 
the  breast  bone  and  glanced. 

During  the  operation  the  President's  pulse  remained  at  about  130, 
being  at  that  figure  when  the  operation  was  concluded.  The  President's 
respiration  was  normal  throughout,  and  at  no  time  was  his  breathing 
labored  or  difficult.  The  operation  was  a  complete  success  from  the  view- 
point of  the  physicians  present.  The  danger  now  is  from  complications, 
that  most  feared  being  peritonitis. 

President  McKinley  showed  no  indication  of  having  suffered  from 
the  shock  of  the  attempted  assassination  or  the  operation. 

Arrangements  were  made  to  remove  the  President  to  the  Milburn 
house  before  any  reaction  might  set  in.  At  6:50  o'clock  Dr.  and  Mrs. 
Rixey,  Mrs.  Cortelyou,  and  Webb  C.  Hayes,  a  son  of  the  late  President 
Hayes,  drove  to  the  Milburn  home  to  make  preparations  to  receive  him. 

Two  nurses  from  the  hospital  took  an  automobile  loaded  with  supplies 
down  to  the  Milburn  house,  and  at  7 125  o'clock  the  ambulance  backed  up 
to  the  hospital  door.  Four  surgeons  carried  the  stretcher  on  which  the 
President  lay.  His  head  rested  on  a  pillow  and  a  white  sheet  concealed 
all  but  his  face,  which  looked  as  white  as  the  linen  around  it. 

There  was  not  a  sound  from  the  crowd.  All  heads  were  bare.  It 
could  be  seen  that  the  President  was  conscious,  that  his  eyes  were  open, 
but  he  made  no  sign.  Dr.  Clark,  who  had  removed  his  coat  and  rolled 
up  his  shirt  sleeves,  entered  the  ambulance  and  sat  at  the  President's  head, 
while  Dr.  Wasden  of  the  Marine  Hospital  sat  at  his  feet.  General  Welch 
and  Colonel  Chapin  sat  with  the  driver,  and  the  military  guard  rode  out 
at  the  head  of  the  ambulance.  Behind  the  ambulance  went  two  automo- 
biles carrying  Secretary  Cortelyou,  Secretary  Wilson,  Mr.  Milburn,  and 
Dr.  Mann. 

Secretary  Cortelyou  said  that  a  telegraph  office  would  be  established 
at  once  in  the  Milburn  residence,  and  bulletins  giving  the  public  the  fullest 
information  possible  would  be  issued  at  short  intervals.  At  the  Milburn 
house  were  Secretary  of  Agriculture  Wilson,  President  Milburn,  Director 
General  Buchanan  of  the  Pan-American  Exposition,  Dr.  Rixey,  and  Sec- 


WILLIAM    Me  KIN  LEY.  45 

retary  Cortelyou.  Telegrams  poured  in  by  the  hundreds,  and  Secretary 
Cortelyou  was  kept  busy  replying  to  them.  Two  stenographers,  with  their 
typewriters,  were  placed  in  the  parlor,  which  was  quickly  transformed  into 
a  bustling  room. 

The  Milburn  home  is  on  the  west  side  of  Delaware  Avenue,  the  second 
house  north  of  Ferry  Street.  It  is  a  three-story  dark  green  brick  structure 
of  wide  dimensions.  It  is  about  sixty  feet  from  the  street  line,  the  well 
kept  lawn  sloping  to  the  sidewalk. 

The  President  is  occupying  one  of  a  suite  of  rooms  on  the  second 
floor  of  the  house,  in  the  northwest  corner  of  the  building.  The  Presi- 
dent's room  is  the  farthest  one  on  the  second  floor  removed  from  either 
Delaware  Avenue  or  Ferry  Street. 

Many  notable  persons  called  at  the  house.  The  first  of  them  came 
long  before  the  President  was  brought  to  the  home.  These  early  ones 
included  members  of  the  diplomatic  corps.  Later,  some  time  after  the 
President  had  been  brought  into  the  house,  Governor  B.  B.  Odell  and  his 
private  secretary,  James  Graham,  who  were  in  Lockport  when  they  heard 
the  news,  called. 

At  1 1 :28  United  States  Senator  Mark  Hanna  arrived  from  Cleve- 
land. Among  other  callers  were  Robert  T.  Lincoln  of  Chicago,  son  of  the 
late  President  Lincoln,  and  E.  B.  F.  McFarland,  one  of  the  Commission- 
ers from  the  District  of  Columbia. 

Not  only  were  the  services  of  the  local  police  and  detective  forces 
employed  to  the  fullest  extent,  but  specially  detailed  men  had  accompanied 
the  Presidential  party  in  all  its  travels  since  inauguration  day.  In  addition 
to  this  the  extra  precaution  was  taken  upon  the  occasion  of  the  President's 
visit  to  the  Pan-American  of  having  three  United  States  Treasury  secret 
service  men  of  long  experience  and  proven  ability  in  attendance. 

In  fact,  to  such  an  extent  had  this  matter  of  the  President's  personal 
safety  been  carried  by  those  responsible  for  his  welfare  that  it  had  given 
rise  to  some  criticism. 

Upon  his  visit  to  the  Exposition  it  was  felt  by  those  surrounding  him 
that  the  President  was  liable  to  greater  chances  of  danger  than  is  usual, 
even  upon  his  travels,  owing  to  the  great  crowds,  the  diversified  character 
of  the  people  assembled,  and  the  necessity  for  direct  contact  with  the 
crowds.  For  these  reasons  the  strict  precautions  above  mentioned  were 
resorted  to. 

The  President  himself  had  always  been  averse  to  any  such  protection, 
and  the  sight  of  officers  of  the  law  constantly  near  his  person  was  dis- 
tasteful. He  had  always  insisted  that  in  all  his  visits  to  various 


46  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

there  should  be  at  least  one  public  reception  where  he  could  be  brought 
face  to  face  with  the  public,  and  give  those  who  desired  it  the  privilege  of 
a  personal  meeting. 

SAW  THE  PRESIDENT  SHOT. 

A  prominent  Exposition  official  who  stood  just  behind  the  President 
when  the  shooting  occurred  gave  one  of  the  clearest  accounts  of  those 
related.  He  said : 

"I  stood  about  ten  feet  from  the  President  and  saw  Czolgosz  approach. 
The  latter  had  his  right  hand  drawn  up  close  to  his  breast  and  a  white  linen 
handkerchief  wrapped  around  it  bore  the  appearance  of  a  bandage.  He 
extended  his  left  hand,  and  I  am  quite  sure  the  President  thought  he  was 
injured,  for  he  leaned  forward  and  looked  at  him  in  a  sympathetic  way. 
When  directly  in  front  of  the  President  Czolgosz  threw  his  right  hand 
forward  and  fired.  I  saw  the  flash  and  smoke  followed  by  a  report,  and 
then  heard  the  second  shot. 

"Instantly  John  Parker,  the  colored  man,  and  Secret  Agent  Foster 
were  upon  Czolgosz,  and  they  bore  him  to  the  floor.  Czolgosz,  lying  pros- 
trate, still  retained  a  hold  on  his  revolver  and  seemed  to  be  trying  to  get 
his  arm  free  to  fire  again. 

"The  President  did  not  fall.  He  raised  his  right  hand  and  felt  of  his 
breast  and  seemed  to  be  maintaining  his  upright  position  only  by  wonder- 
ful effort.  I  am  sure  he  did  not  speak  at  that  moment.  He  gazed  fixedly 
at  his  assailant  with  a  look  which  I  can  not  describe,  but  which  I  shall 
never  forget,  and  in  a  moment  reeled  back  into  the  arms  of  Secretary  Cor- 
telyou.  Czolgosz's  revolver  had  by  that  time  been  knocked  from  his 
hand,  and  some  one  had  picked  up  the  burning  handkerchief  which  lay 
at  his  feet.  Czolgosz  was  picked  up,  forced  back  and  again  knocked 
down.  Mr.  Cortelyou  and  Mr.  Milburn  supported  the  President  and  led 
him  to  a  chair.  I  heard  him  ask  that  the  news  be  kept  from  his  wife,  and 
a  moment  later,  when  Secretary  Cortelyou  asked  him  if  he  felt  much  pain, 
he  said: 

"  'This  wound  hurts  very  much.'  He  seemed  to  be  fairly  easy  as  he 
rested  in  the  chair,  and  some  of  the  fading  color  came  back  to  his  face. 
He  reached  his  right  hand  inside  of  his  shirt,  and  when  he  withdrew  it  his 
fingers  were  tipped  with  blood.  He  paled  again  at  the  sight  of  the  blood, 
and  I  think  he  fainted.  Senor  Aspiroz,  the  Mexican  Minister,  broke 
through  the  crowd,  and,  rushing  up  to  the  President,  cried : 

"  'My  God,  Mr.  President,  are  you  shot?' 

"The  Minister  seemed  about  to  throw  himself  at  the  feet  of  the  Presi- 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  47 

dent,  but  was  restrained.  The  President's  answer  came  very  slowly,  and 
in  a  halting,  subdued  voice,  he  said :  'Yes,  I  believe  I  am.'  The  President 
was  attracted  by  the  scuffle  of  the  officers  who  were  dragging  the  would- 
be  murderer  away,  but  he  did  not  speak.  His  head  rested  on  the  arm  of 
Mr.  Milburn  and  he  seemed  only  partly  conscious. 

"His  courage  was  superb,  and  while  he  was  conscious  he  was  master 
of  the  pain  which  he  suffered.  When  the  ambulance  came  and  a  stretcher 
was  brought  in  he  started  forward  and  partly  regained  his  feet  unassisted. 
I  heard  not  a  word  from  the  assailant  of  the  President.  He  was  struck 
down  the  moment  he  fired  the  second  shot,  and  if  he  did  speak  it  probably 
was  an  exclamation  at  the  very  rough  treatment  he  was  receiving," 

DETECTIVE  IRELAND'S  STORY. 

In  an  interview  Secret  Service  Detective  Ireland,  who,  with  Officers 
Foster  and  Gallagher,  was  near  the  President  when  the  shots  were  fired, 
said: 

"It  is  incorrect,  as  has  been  stated,  that  the  least  fear  of  an  assault 
was  entertained  by  the  presidential  party.  Since  the  Spanish  war  the 
President  has  traveled  all  over  the  country  and  has  met  people  everywhere. 
In  Canton  he  walks  to  church  and  downtown  without  the  sign  of  secret 
service  of  any  kind  as  an  escort.  In  Washington  he  walks  about  the 
White  House  grounds,  drives  out  freely  and  has  enjoyed  much  freedom 
from  the  presence  of  detectives. 

"It  has  been  my  custom  to  stand  back  of  the  President  and  just  to  his 
left,  so  I  could  see  the  right  hand  of  every  person  approaching,  but  yester- 
day I  was  requested  to  stand  opposite  the  President,  so  that  Mr.  Milburn 
could  stand  to  the  left  and  introduce  the  people  who  approached.  In 
that  way  I  was  unable  to  get  a  good  look  at  every  one's  right  hand. 

"A  few  moments  before  Czolgosz  approached,  a  man  came  along 
with  three  fingers  of  his  right  hand  tied  up  in  a  bandage,  and  he  had 
shaken  hands  with  his  left.  When  Czolgosz  came  up  I  noticed  he  was  a 
boyish-looking  fellow,  with  an  innocent  face,  perfectly  calm,  and  I  also 
noticed  that  his  right  hand  was  wrapped  in  what  appeared  to  be  a  bandage. 
I  watched  him  closely,  but  was  interrupted  by  the  man  in  front  of  him, 
who  held  on  the  President's  hand  an  unusually  long  time.  This  man 
appeared  to  be  an  Italian,  and  wore  a  short,  heavy,  black  mustache.  He 
was  persistent,  and  it  was  necessary  for  me  to  push  him  along  so  that 
others  could  reach  the  President.  Just  as  he  released  the  President's 
hand  and  as  the  President  was  reaching  for  the  hand  of  the  assassin,  there 
were  two  quick  shots.  Startled  for  a  moment,  I  looked  and  saw  the  Pres- 


48  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

ident  draw  his  right  hand  up  under  his  coat,  straighten  up  and,  pressing 
his  lips  together,  give  Czolgosz  the  most  scornful  and  contemptuous  look 
possible  to  imagine. 

"At  the  same  time  I  reached  for  the  young  man  and  caught  his  left 
arm.  The  big  negro  standing  just  back  of  him,  and  who  would  have 
been  next  to  take  the  President's  hand,  struck  the  young  man  in  the  neck 
with  one  hand  and  with  the  other  reached  for  the  revolver,  which  had 
been  discharged  through  the  handkerchief,  and  the  shots  from  which  had 
set  fire  to  the  linen. 

"Immediately  a  dozen  men  fell  upon  the  assassin  and  bore  him  to  the 
floor.  While  on  the  floor  Czolgosz  again  tried  to  discharge  the  revolver, 
but  before  he  could  point  it  at  the  President  it  was  knocked  from  his  hand 
by  the  negro.  It  flew  across  the  floor,  and  one  of  the  artillerymen  picked 
it  up  and  put  it  in  his  pocket. 

"On  the  way  down  to  the  station  Czolgosz  would  not  say  a  word,  but 
seemed  greatly  agitated." 

SAID  EVERY  PRECAUTION  WAS  TAKEN. 

The  day  following  the  shooting  Secretary  of  Agriculture  Wilson,  a 
member  of  President  McKinley's  cabinet,  issued  a  statement  to  the  country 
at  large  saying  that  every  possible  precaution  was  taken  to  prevent  the 
awful  tragedy. 

"On  Thursday  when  the  President  witnessed  the  grand  illumination  at 
the  Exposition,  I  was  impressed  with  the  ease  with  which  some  evil-dis- 
posed person  might  have  crept  up  in  the  darkness  between  the  flashes  of 
the  pyrotechnics  and  have  done  the  President  bodily  harm.  Secretary 
Cortelyou  was  similarly  impressed,  and  we  talked  the  matter  over  at  great 
length  as  we  sat  on  the  benches  watching  the  display.  I  confess  that  much 
of  my  pleasure  was  destroyed  by  the  dread  of  what  might  happen.  Secre- 
tary Cortelyou  and  I  went  over  carefully  the  precautions  which  are  always 
taken  with  the  public  appearance  of  the  President,  and  he  said  that  if  any 
other  precautions  could  be  suggested  or  devised  he  would  employ  them. 
We  spoke  of  the  reception  at  the  Temple  of  Music,  which  had  been  ar- 
ranged for  the  next  day.  We  both  agreed  that  the  only  danger  which 
might  exist  would  be  from  organized  anarchists  or  some  one  actually 
demented  and  irresponsible,  but  the  possibility  of  just  such  a  tragedy  as 
occurred,  we  could  not  but  admit. 

"With  the  memory  of  this  conversation  in  his  mind,  Secretary  Cor- 
telyou took  all  precautions.  Detectives,  guards  and  soldiers  were  em- 


WILLIAM    McKIN  LEY.  49 

ployed.  Nothing  that  foresight  could  imagine  was  omitted,  and  yet  the 
dastardly  crime  was  committed. 

"It  was  warm.  Many  people  were  mopping  their  brows  with  their 
handkerchiefs,  while  the  detectives,  who  were  watching  vigilantly  for  a 
possible  weapon  in  the  hand  of  a  would-be  assassin,  had  no  suspicion  of 
what  lay  concealed  in  what  apparently  was  the  bandaged  hand  of 
Czolgosz. 

"All  the  secret  service  has  been  especially  cautioned.  I  desire  to  have 
this  statement  made  public  in  justice  to  Secretary  Cortelyou,  who,  with  a 
faithfulness  and  loyalty  seldom  paralleled,  has  striven  with  all  his  energy 
upon  all  occasions  to  safeguard  the  life  of  the  President. 

"Secretary  Cortelyou  telegraphed  Director  General  Buchanan  from 
Canton  to  make  careful  police  arrangements  to  protect  the  President  dur- 
ing his  stay,  and  subsequently  wrote  to  the  same  effect.  Instead  of  two 
secret  service  men  who  usually  accompany  the  President  on  trips  of  this 
character,  Secretary  Cortelyou  had  a  third  man  detailed." 

Two  SAD  DUTIES  OF  THE  PRESIDENT. 

It  was  the  duty  of  Mr.  McKinley,  as  President  of  the  United  States, 
previous  to  his  assassination,  to  send  two  messages  of  condolence  in  cases 
of  the  assassination  of  crowned  heads.  One  was  in  the  case  of  the  murder 
of  the  Empress  of  Austria  at  Geneva  in  1898  and  the  other  on  the  occasion 
of  the  killing  of  King  Humbert  of  Italy  on  July  29,  1900.  The  message 
in  the  former  case  was  as  follows : 

"Washington,  D.  C,  Sept.  10,  1898. — To  His  Majesty,  the  Emperor 
of  Austria :  I  have  heard  with  profound  regret  of  the  assassination  of  her 
Majesty,  the  Empress  of  Austria,  while  in  Geneva,  and  tender  to  your 
Majesty  the  deep  sympathy  of  the  government  and  people  of  the  United 
States.  WILLIAM  McKiNLEY." 

For  this  message  the  Emperor  the  next  day  returned  a  telegram  con- 
veying his  personal  thanks.  The  President's  message  on  the  assassination 
of  King  Humbert  was  as  follows : 

"Washington,  D.  C;  July  30,  1900. — To  His  Majesty,  Vittorio  Em- 
manuel :  In  my  name  and  on  behalf  of  the  American  people  I  offer  your 
Majesty  and  the  Italian  nation  sincere  condolences  in  the  hour  of  deep 
bereavement.  WILLIAM  McKiNLEY." 


CHAPTER  III. 

PRESIDENT  MCKINLEY'S  ASSASSIN  MAKES  A  FULL,  FREE,  AND  COMPLETE 
CONFESSION — SAYS  HE  WAS  ALONE  IN  THE  MATTER  AND  HAD  No 
ACCOMPLICES — PROUD  OF  His  DASTARDLY  DEED — His  FATHER  DE- 
NOUNCES HIM. 


Leon  Czolgosz  was  certainly  one  of  the  most  cold-blooded,  deliberate, 
sodden  assassins  of  which  the  histories  of  the  nations  of  the  earth  makes 
mention.  He  had  no  cause  for  shooting  President  McKinley ;  he  had  no 
grievance  against  the  latter ;  none  of  his  relatives  or  friends  had  suffered 
through  any  act  of  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  United  States.  Czolgosz 
belonged  to  no  party,  sect,  faction  or  society  which  had  been  injured  or 
hurt  in  any  manner  or  way  by  his  victim.  He  had  never  seen  the  Presi- 
dent until  a  day  or  two  before  he  was  shot,  and  had  never  been  near  him 
until  the  cowardly  shots  were  fired. 

Czolgosz  was  an  anarchist,  it  is  true,  but  he  had  never  been  inter- 
fered with  in  his  opinions ;  the  craven  dastard  had  never  been  interfered 
with  in  his  skulking  career  by  the  man  whose  life  he  sought.  Remorse- 
less, vindictive,  silent,  crafty  and  slinking,  he  followed  the  President  in 
secrecy  and  safety  until  the  moment  for  the  execution  of  his  purpose 
arrived. 

The  morning  after  the  shooting  the  assassin,  under  the  pressure  of 
the  police  examiners,  made  the  following  heartless  confession  as  coolly  as 
though  his  deed  was  one  which  deserved  a  reward  instead  of  the  execration 
of  the  peoples  of  the  world : 

"I  was  born  in  Detroit  nearly  twenty-nine  years  ago.  My  parents 
were  Russian  Poles.  They  came  here  forty-two  years  ago.  I  got  my 
education  in  the  public  schools  of  Detroit  and  then  went  to  Cleveland, 
where  I  got  work.  In  Cleveland  I  read  books  on  Socialism  and  met  a 
great  many  Socialists.  I  was  pretty  well  known  as  a  Socialist  in  the  West. 
After  being  in  Cleveland  for  several  years  I  went  to  Chicago,  where  I 
remained  seven  months,  after  which  I  went  to  Newburg,  on  the  outskirts 
of  Cleveland,  and  went  to  work  in  the  Newburg  wire  mills. 

"During  the  last  five  years  I  have  had  as  friends  anarchists  in  Chi- 
cago, Cleveland,  Detroit  and  other  western  cities  and  I  suppose  I  became 

50 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  51 

more  or  less  bitter.  Yes,  I  know  I  was  bitter.  I  never  had  much  luck  at 
anything  and  this  preyed  upon  me.  It  made  me  morose  and  envious,  but 
what  started  the  craze  to  kill  was  a  lecture  I  heard  some  little  time  ago  by 
Emma  Goldman.  She  was  in  Cleveland  and  I  and  other  Anarchists  went 
to  hear  her.  She  set  me  on  fire. 

"Her  doctrine  that  all  rulers  should  be  exterminated  was  what  set  me 
to  thinking  so  that  my  head  nearly  split  with  the  pain.  Miss  Goldman's 
words  went  right  through  me  and  when  I  left  the  lecture  I  had  made  up 
my  mind  that  I  would  have  to  do  something  heroic  for  the  cause  I  loved. 

"Eight  days  ago,  while  I  was  in  Chicago,  I  read  in  a  Chicago  news- 
paper of  President  McKinley's  visit  to  the  Pan-American  Exposition  at 
Buffalo.  That  day  I  bought  a  ticket  for  Buffalo  and  got  here  with  the 
determination  to  do  something,  but  I  did  not  know  just  what.  I  thought 
of  shooting  the  President,  but  I  had  not  formed  a  plan. 

"I  went  to  live  at  1078  Broadway,  which  is  a  saloon  and  hotel.  John 
Nowak,  a  Pole,  a  sort  of  politician  who  has  led  his  people  here  for  years, 
owns  it.  I  told  Nowak  that  I  came  to  see  the  fair.  He  knew  nothing 
about  what  was  setting  me  crazy.  I  went  to  the  Exposition  grounds  a 
couple  of  times  a  day. 

"Not  until  Tuesday  morning  did  the  resolution  to  shoot  the  President 
take  a  hold  of  me.  It  was  in  my  heart ;  there  was  no  escape  for  me.  I 
could  not  have  conquered  it  had  my  life  been  at  stake.  There  were  thou- 
sands of  people  in  town  on  Tuesday.  I  heard  it  was  President's  day.  All 
these  people  seemed  bowing  to  the  great  ruler.  I  made  up  my  mind  to 
kill  that  ruler.  I  bought  a  32-caliber  revolver  and  loaded  it. 

"On  Tuesday  night  I  went  to  the  fair  grounds  and  was  near  the  rail- 
road gate  when  the  presidential  party  arrived.  I  tried  to  get  near  him, 
but  the  police  forced  me  back.  They  forced  everybody  back  so  that  the 
great  ruler  could  pass.  I  was  close  to  the  President  when  he  got  into  the 
grounds,  but  was  afraid  to  attempt  the  assassination,  because  there  were 
so  many  men  in  the  bodyguard  that  watched  him.  I  was  not  afraid  of 
them  or  that  I  should  get  hurt,  but  afraid  I  might  be  seized  and  that  my 
chance  would  be  gone  forever. 

"Well,  he  went  away  that  time  and  I  went  home.  On  Wednesday  I 
went  to  the  grounds  and  stood  right  near  the  President,  right  under  him 
near  the  stand  from  which  he  spoke. 

"I  thought  half  a  dozen  times  of  shooting  while  he  was  speaking, 
but  I  could  not  get  close  enough.  I  was  afraid  I  might  miss,  and  then  the 
great  crowd  was  always  jostling  and  I  was  afraid  lest  my  aim  fail.  I 
waited  Wednesday  and  the  President  got  into  his  carriage  again  and  a  lot 


52  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

of  men  were  about  him  and  formed  a  cordon  that  I  could  not  get  through. 
I  was  tossed  about  by  the  crowd  and  my  spirits  were  getting  pretty  low. 
I  was  almost  hopeless  that  night  as  I  went  home. 

"Yesterday  morning  I  went  again  to  the  Exposition  grounds.'  Emma 
Goldman's  speech  was  still  burning  me  up.  I  waited  near  the  central 
entrance  for  .the  President,  who  was  to  board  his  special  train  from  that 
gate,  but  the  police  allowed  nobody  but  the  President's  party  to  pass  where 
the  train  waited,  so  I  stayed  at  the  grounds  all  day  waiting. 

"During  yesterday  I  first  thought  of  hiding  my  pistol  under  my 
handkerchief.  I  was  afraid  if  I  had  to  draw  it  from  my  pocket  I  would 
be  seen  and  seized  by  the  guards.  I  got  to  the  Temple  of  Music  the  first 
one  and  waited  at  the  spot  where  the  reception  was  to  be  held. 

"Then  he  came,  the  President — the  ruler — and  I  got  in  line  and 
trembled  and  trembled  until  I  got  right  up  to  him,  and  then  I  shot  him 
twice,  through  my  white  handkerchief.  I  would  have  fired  more,  but  I 
was  stunned  by  a  blow  in  the  face — a  frightful  blow  that  knocked  me 
down — and  then  everybody  jumped  on  me.  I  thought  I  would  be  killed 
and  was  surprised  the  way  they  treated  me." 

Czolgosz  ended  his  story  in  utter  exhaustion.  When  he  had  about 
concluded  he  was  asked : 

"Did  you  really  mean  to  kill  the  President  ?" 

"I  did,"  was  the  cold-blooded  reply. 

''What  was  your  motive,  what  good  could  it  do  you  ?"  he  was  asked. 

<:I  am  an  anarchist.  I  am  a  disciple  of  Emma  Goldman.  Her  words 
set  me  on  fire,"  he  replied,  with  not  the  slightest  tremor. 

"I  deny  that  I  have  had  an  accomplice  at  any  time,"  Czolgosz  told 
District  Attorney  Penny.  "I  don't  regret  my  act,  because  I  was  doing 
what  I  could  for  the  great  cause.  I  am  not  connected  with  the  Paterson 
group,  or  with  those  anarchists  who  sent  Bresci  to  Italy  to  kill  Humbert. 
I  had  no  confidants ;  no  one  to  help  me.  I  was  alone  absolutely." 

ASSASSIN  PROUD  OF  His  DEED. 

Czolgosz  was  proud  of  his  deed.  He  claimed  it  as  his  own.  He 
admitted  he  had  frequently  talked  of  killing  a  ruler  to  his  friends,  but  he 
declared  there  was  no  plot  to  kill  President  McKinley,  and  that  he  alone 
planned  and  executed  the  deed. 

So  far  as  could  be  ascertained  Czolgosz  was  of  a  piece  with  all  the 
anarchist  type  of  murderers.  His  one  overmastering  trait  was  vanity. 
He  was  the  kind  of  vermin  the  anarchist  master  spirits  use  as  tools  for 
their  crimes.  Like  all  of  them,  he  was  a  coward  at  heart. 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  53 

When  he  had  fired  his  two  treacherous  shots ;  when  the  deed  his  crazy 
egotism  had  nerved  him  up  to  do  was  over,  and,  for  the  moment,  his  own 
life  seemed  in  danger,  he  was  white  with  terror  and  trembling  like  so  much 
gelatine. 

How  the  anarchists  who  were  back  of  him — for  there  are  few  who 
believed  his  story  that  the  inspiration  was  his  own — must  have  worked 
upon  such  a  craven  to  get  him  up  to  the  murdering  point,  only  they  who 
did  it  can  know.  But  their  leverage  was  in  the  same  inordinate  vanity 
which,  when  the  danger  of  being  lynched  was  over,  enabled  him  to  pose 
in  the  role  of  a  hero  and  a  martyr. 

He  was  hardly  well  within  the  prison  walls  at  Buffalo  and  there  safe 
from  mob  violence  before  his  conceit  began  to  bring  back  his  nerve.  He 
was  quite  himself,  although  rather  badly  battered  from  the  hands  of  those 
who  first  fell  upon  him.  When  he  went  to  bed  the  two  policemen,  who 
watched  over  him  all  night  to  see  that  he  made  no  attempt  to  kill  himself, 
report  that  he  slept  fairly  well  until  daylight  this  morning.  The  new  day 
brought  with  it  to  him  the  conviction  that  he  was  one  of  the  great  ones  of 
the  earth.  He  had  endless  satisfaction  in  his  thought  that  all  the  world 
was  talking  of  him.  It  pleased  him  greatly  when  he  was  summoned  to 
have  his  photograph  taken  for  the  rogues'  gallery.  He  posed  for  the 
camera  in  heroic  attitude,  with  his  head  thrown  back  and  his  eyes  turned 
upward  in  the  approved  style  of  the  martyr.  Two  pictures  of  him  were 
taken,  one  in  profile  and  the  other  a  full  face. 

The  utmost  precautions  were  taken  to  prevent  anybody  from  getting 
a  glimpse  of  him  on  his  way  from  his  cell  in  the  basement  of  police  head- 
quarters to  the  photograph  gallery  on  the  top  floor.  The  halls  were 
cleared  and  policemen  were  lined  up  on  each  side  of  them  and  through  this 
lane  of  bluecoats  Czolgosz  was  marched.  He  walked  with  a  firm  step  and 
seemed  calm  and  composed.  He  was  a  whey-faced  type  of  Pole,  rather 
wall-eyed  type,  with  a  narrow  forehead  and  thick  hair,  light  brown  in 
color,  and  rather  wavy. 

Czolgosz  was  evidently  quite  proud  of  his  hair  and  had  it  trained  to 
stand  upright  from  his  low  brow  in  a  semi-pompadour  style.  He  was 
rather  small  in  person  and  slight,  but  not  badly  built.  The  only  bodily 
traces  he  bore  of  the  rough  handling  received  after  he  shot  the  President 
were  a  cut  and  swollen  lip  and  scratched  nose,  where  the  detective's  heavy 
fist  fell  upon  him,  driven  home  with  all  the  vigor  of  the  officer's  first 
furious  transport  of  rage,  when  the  miserable  little  wretch  was  dragged  to 
his  feet  before  him. 

Besides  this  all  traces  of  the  collar  and  necktie  the  assassin  had  worn 


54  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

were  gone  and  his  shirt  was  torn  open  at  the  collar.  In  this  way  he  was 
photographed,  and  it  was  a  source  of  anguish  to  him  that  Secretary  Root 
had  requested  that  none  of  the  photographs  be  made  public. 

The  publication  of  their  pictures  throughout  the  world  is  most  of  the 
anarchist  murderers'  chief  source  of  delight. 

Czolgosz  said  his  parents  came  from  Russian  Poland,  and  that  he 
was  born  in  Detroit  in  1875.  He  received  some  education  in  the  common 
schools  of  that  city,  but  left  school  and  went  to  work  when  a  boy  as  a 
blacksmith's  apprentice.  Later  he  went  to  work  at  Cleveland  and  then 
went  to  Chicago. 

While  in  Chicago  he  became  interested  in  the  Socialist  movement. 
When  he  went  back  to  Cleveland  his  interest  in  the  movement  increased. 
He  read  all  the  Socialist  literature  he  could  lay  his  hands  on,  and  finally 
began  to  take  part  in  Socialistic  matters.  In  time  he  became  fairly  well 
known  in  Chicago,  Cleveland,  and  Detroit,  not  only  as  a  Socialist,  but  as 
an  anarchist  of  the  most  bitter  type. 

After  returning  to  Cleveland  from  Chicago  he  went  to  work  in  the 
wire  mills  in  Newburg,  a  suburb  of  Cleveland.  He  said  he  was  working 
there  up  to  the  day  he  started  for  Buffalo,  this  statement  contradicting 
letters  written  by  him  from  points  in  New  York. 

About  two  weeks  before  Czolgosz  attended  a  meeting  of  Socialists  in 
Cleveland,  at  which  a  lecture  was  given  by  Emma  Goldman,  the  woman 
whose  anarchistic  doctrines  had  made  her  notorious  all  over  the  country. 
The  extermination  of  rulers  of  people  was  part  of  her  creed. 

It  was  this  lecture  and  others  heard  in  Chicago  prior  to  that  time  that 
instilled  in  the  heart  of  the  Pole  the  poison  of  assassination.  He  went  back 
to  his  lodging  from  the  lecture  with  fever  in  his  brain.  His  mind  was 
filled  with  the  preaching  of  this  woman.  The  doctrine  that  rulers  had  no 
right  to  live  was  burned  into  his  soul.  He  awoke  in  the  morning  with  the 
lecture  of  Emma  Goldman  running  through  his  mind. 

A  few  days  afterward  he  read  in  a  Chicago  paper  that  President  Mc- 
nley  was  to  visit  the  Pan-American  Exposition  and  to  remain  in  Buffalo 
for  several  days.  The  lecture  of  Emma  Goldman  and  the  projected  visit 
of  the  President  to  Buffalo  were  linked  in  his  every  thought. 

Eight  days  before  the  shooting  he  packed  a  small  telescope  valise 
with  his  belongings  and  took  an  early  train  for  Buffalo.  At  that  time 
there  was  no  well  formed  purpose  in  his  mind.  The  plot  to  murder  had 
not  crystallized,  but  the  thought  that  in  Buffalo  he  would  be  able,  per- 
haps, to  reach  the  President's  side  was  what  led  him  to  start  for  the  East, 
and  with  it  was  the  dim  conviction  that  his  mission  was  one  of  blood. 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  & 

Upon  arriving  in  Buffalo  he  went  at  once  to  John  Nowak's  hotel  at 
1078  Broadway.  He  went  there  because  he  knew  Nowak  was  a  Pole.  He 
told  Nowak  he  had  come  to  see  the  Exposition,  and  that  his  stay  would 
be  indefinite.  He  inquired  of  Nowak  about  the  visit  of  the  President, 
when  he  would  arrive,  how  long  he  would  be  in  the  city,  what  he  was  to 
do  here,  and  whether  the  people  would  be  able  to  see  much  of  him. 
Nowak  told  him  what  the  plans  were. 

The  next  day  Czolgosz  went  to  the  Exposition.  He  went  there  on 
the  following  day,  and  the  day  following.  The  idea  that  he  might  kill 
the  President  when  he  came  was  in  his  mind,  but  the  purpose  was  but  half 
formed.  At  that  time  it  might  have  been  possible  to  have  diverted  his 
mind  from  the  thought  of  such  a  mission.  But  he  was  alone  in  the  city. 
He  had  no  friends  here.  There  was  nothing  to  check  the  fever  burning 
deeper  and  deeper  into  his  mind. 

On  Wednesday  morning,  the  day  of  the  President's  arrival,  Czolgosz 
had  his  mind  made  up.  His  mission  to  Buffalo  was  clear  to  him  then. 
He  determined  to  shoot  the  President.  The  first  thing  he  did  was  to  buy 
a  revolver.  With  the  consciousness  that  his  work  would  have  to  be  done 
quickly  and  must  be  effective,  he  secured  a  revolver  of  the  self-acting  type. 
It  occurred  to  him  that  he  might  have  to  shoot  the  President  more  than 
once,  and  he  knew  that  there  could  be  no  delay.  He  loaded  his  revolver, 
placed  it  in  the  side  pocket  of  his  sack  coat,  where  he  could  reach  it 
quickly  and  without  attracting  attention,  and  went  to  the  Exposition. 

He  arrived  on  the  grounds  shortly  before  noon.  He  knew  the  Pres- 
ident would  not  arrive  before  the  early  evening.  He  had  read  the  papers 
carefully  and  knew  every  detail  of  the  plans.  But  he  was  anxious  to  be 
on  the  scene  where  the  assassination  was  to  be  committed.  He  remained 
at  the  Exposition  all  day. 

In  the  afternoon  he  took  up  his  position  close  to  the  railroad  gate. 
He  knew  the  President  would  enter  the  grounds  that  way.  After  a  time 
other  people  began  to  assemble  there  until  there  was  a  crowd  that  hedged 
him  in  on  all  sides.  He  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  place  for  him  to 
be  was  outside  of  the  railroad  station,  close  to  the  tracks. 

He  feared  that  inside  the  grounds  the  crush  might  be  so  great  that 
he  would  be  brushed  aside  and  prevented  from  reaching  the  President. 
He  tried  to  pass  through  the  gate  to  the  station,  but  he  was  too  late. 
Guards  had  just  closed  the  exit.  The  President  was  to  arrive  soon,  and 
the  police  did  not  desire  to  have  the  station  crowded,  so  they  pushed 
Czolgosz  back  into  the  crowd. 

He  was  in  the  forefront  of  the  throng  when  the  President  came 


56  WILLIAM    Me  KIN  LEY. 

through  the  gate.  The  exhibition  of  tenderness  and  affection  for  his 
wife  which  the  President  unconsciously  gave  her  as  he  led  her  through  the 
entrance  thrilled  every  one  in  the  throng  but  Czolgosz.  He  alone  felt  no 
pity  for  the  pale,  sweet-faced,  suffering  woman.  He  pressed  forward 
with  the  rest  of  the  crowd  as  the  President  approached  the  carriage.  He 
was  gripping  the  weapon  in  his  pocket  in  his  right  hand. 

Several  times,  as  the  figure  of  the  Chief  Executive  came  into  full 
view  as  the  guards  drew  aside,  the  impulse  to  rush  forward  and  shoot  took 
possession  of  him,  but  each  time  he  changed  his  mind.  He  feared  he 
would  be  discovered  before  he  could  reach  the  President.  He  was  afraid 
that  the  glint  of  the  revolver,  if  he  drew  it  from  his  pocket,  might  attract 
the  attention  of  a  detective  or  a  soldier  or  a  citizen  before  he  could  put  his 
plan  into  execution,  and  in  that  event  the  assassin  knew  that  all  hope  of 
killing  the  President  would  be  over.  He  saw  the  President  enter  the  car- 
riage and  drive  away.  He  followed,  but  the  crowd  closed  in  front  of  him 
and  held  him  back. 

The  next  morning  he  was  at  the  Exposition  early.  He  took  up  his 
position  close  to  the  stand  beneath  the  Pylon  of  Liberty,  where  the  Presi- 
dent was  to  speak.  When  the  time  came  for  the  President  to  arrive  the 
guards  pushed  him  back.  He  saw  the  President  arrive  and  mount  to  the 
stand.  He  stood  there  in  the  front  row  of  the  hurrahing  people,  mute, 
with  a  single  thought  in  his  mind. 

He  heard  Mr.  McKinley  speak.  He  reckoned  up  the  chances  in  his 
mind  of  stealing  closer  and  shooting  down  the  President  where  he  stood. 
Once  he  fully  determined  to  make  the  attempt,  but  just  then  a  stalwart 
guard  appeared  in  front  of  him.  He  concluded  to  wait  a  better  oppor- 
tunity. After  the  address  he  was  among  those  who  attempted  to  crowd 
up  to  the  President's  carriage.  One  of  the  detectives  caught  him  by  the 
shoulder  and  shoved  him  back  into  the  crowd. 

He  saw  the  President  drive  away  and  followed.  He  tried  to  pass 
through  the  entrance  after  the  President,  but  the  guards  halted  him  and 
sent  him  away.  He  entered  the  stadium  by  another  entrance,  but  was  not 
permitted  to  get  within  reach  of  the  President. 

Friday  morning,  September  6th,  he  was  at  the  Exposition  again  and 
was  in  the  crowd  at  the  railroad  gate  when  the  President  arrived  at  that 
point  after  crossing  the  grounds  from  the  Lincoln  Park  entrance.  But 
with  the  rest  of  the  crowd  he  was  driven  back  when  the  President's  car- 
riage arrived.  He  saw  the  President  pass  through  the  gate  to  the  special 
train  which  was  to  take  him  to  the  falls. 

Czolgosz  waited  for  the  President's  return.     In  the  afternoon  he  went 


WILLIAM    Me  KIN  LEY.  57 

to  the  Temple  of  Music  and  was  one  of  the  first  of  the  throng  to  enter. 
He  crowded  well  forward,  as  close  to  the  stage  as  possible.  He  was  there 
when  the  President  entered  through  the  side  door.  He  was  one  of  the 
first  to  hurry  forward  when  the  President  took  his  position  and  prepared 
to  shake  hands  with  the  people. 

Czolgosz  had  his  revolver  gripped  in  his  right  hand,  and  about  both 
the  hand  and  the  revolver  was  wrapped  a  handkerchief.  He  held  the 
weapon  to  his  breast,  so  that  any  one  who  noticed  him  might  suppose  that 
the  hand  was  injured. 

He  reached  the  President  finally.     He  did  not  look  into  the  Presi- 
dent's face.     He  extended  his  left  hand,  pressed  the  revolver  against  the 
President's  breast  with  his  right  hand,  and  fired. 
\ 

ASSASSIN'S  FATHER  DENOUNCES  HIM. 

Leon  Czolgosz  was  the  son  of  Paul  Czolgosz,  who  lived  at  306  Fleet 
Street,  Cleveland,  O.,  having  moved  there  from  Warrensburg,  O.,  in 
search  of  work.  Other  members  of  the  family  were  John,  who  lived  at 
home  with  his  father  and  stepmother;  Mike,  a  soldier  on  service  in  the 
Philippines;  Vladiolan,  who  was  on  his  father's  farm,  located  on  the 
Chagrin  Falls  Suburban  line;  and  Jacob,  of  Marcelline  Avenue,  CIeve-> 
land.  There  were  two  uncles  living  on  Hosmer  Street. 

The  family  were  Polish  and  evidently  poor. 

Czolgosz's  father  talked  of  his  son's  crime.  He  said  his  son  should 
be  hanged,  and  that  there  was  no  excuse  for  the  crime..  At  first  he  ap- 
peared not  to  realize  the  enormity  of  the  crime,  but  when  aroused  he 
denounced  his  son,  saying  he  must  have  been  mad. 

The  stepmother  could  not  speak  English,  but  gave  out  the  following 
interview  the  day  following  the  tragedy  through  the  medium  of  an  inter- 
preter. She  said: 

"Leon  left  home  sixty  days  ago.  We  heard  from  him  a  few  weeks 
ago.  He  was  then  in  Indiana  and  wrote  to  us  that  he  was  going  away, 
stating  that  in  all  probability  we  would  not  see  him  again." 

The  family  had  not  heard  from  him  since.  The  stepmother  denies 
Leon  was  a  disciple  of  Emma  Goldman  or  in  any  way  interested  in  her 
doctrine.  She  said  he  was  not  interested  in  such  matters  and  scarcely 
intelligent  enough  to  understand  them.  They  had  always  considered  the 
boy  partly  demented.  Up  to  three  years  before  shooting  the  President 
he  had  worked  at  the  Cleveland  rolling  mill,  but  had  to  quit  on  account 
of  poor  health.  Since  that  time  he  had  been  idle.  While  living  on  the 


58  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

farm  near  Warrensburg  his  father  had  not  asked  Leon  to  work,  having 

always  considered  him  too  weak  for  manual  labor. 

Regarding  the  shooting  of  the  President,  Mrs.  Czolgosz  said : 

"I  can't  believe  Leon  is  the  one.     He  was  such  a  timid  boy,  so  afraid 

of  everything.     Why,  he  was  the  biggest  coward  you  ever  saw  in  your 

life." 


Mrs.  William  McKinley 


The  Shooting  of  President  McKinley  by  the  Anarchist  Czolgosz 

The  colored  man  on  the  right  is  JAMES  D.  PARKER,  who  first  struck,  then  throttled  the  assassin, 
thus  preventing  a  third  shot  being  fired. 


Leon  Czolgosz 

(From  a  photograph  in  the  possession  of  his  family) 


CHAPTER  IV. 

SIMPLICITY  OF  THE  HOME  LIFE  OF  PRESIDENT  AND  MRS.  McKiNLEY — 
THEIR  MARRIAGE  AN  INTERESTING  EVENT  IN  CANTON — LOVING  CARE 
OF  THE  PRESIDENT  FOR  His  WIFE — Two  CHILDREN  BORN  TO  THEM— * 
HABITS  OF  THE  PRESIDENT. 


The  hackneyed  phrase  of  "jeffersoman.  simplicity"  might  well  be 
replaced  by  the  more  modern  one  of  "McKinley  modesty,"  which  expresses 
a  word  epitome  of  the  home  life  of  the  President. 

This  simplicity  was  sincere,  as  evident  to  those  associated  with  him 
all  his  life  as  to  those  members  of  his  official  family  at  Washington  and 
those  who  observed  him  from  the  public  point  of  view.  A  quiet  smoke,  a 
talk  with  Mrs.  McKinley,  a  favorite  newspaper  on  a  shady  piazza,  appealed 
more  to  the  President  than  did  the  whirl  of  the  Chief  Executiveship  of 
what  he  firmly  believed  to  be  the  greatest  nation  on  earth. 

This  sentiment  was  expressed  on  the  afternoon  of  the  national  elec- 
tion of  1900.  Speaking  of  the  close  of  the  exciting  campaign,  this  victor 
of  many  a  hard  fought  battle  of  the  ballots  remarked : 

"The  fight  is  over  and  I  believe  we  have  won.  Of  course,  for  the 
sake  of  the  party,  representing,  as  I  believe  it  does,  the  principles  synony- 
mous with  national  prosperity  and  persisting  futurity,  I  am  glad.  Per- 
sonally, I  would  be  willing  to  retire  from  the  White  House  today  with  a 
breath  of  great  relief.  The  work  and  worries  of  the  position  none  but  the 
man  who  has  filled  it  can  imagine.  This  modest  little  home  is  more  to 
me  than  all  the  honors  won  or  to  be  won  by  a  Chief  Executive.  The  honor 
of  the  position  has  already  been  mine.  What  more  is  there  for  me  to 
secure  ?" 

Thus,  while  the  alterations  of  his  public  positions  were  numerous,  but 
little  change  was  made  in  the  domestic  and  personal  life  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
McKinley  after  they  took  up  their  residence  in  the  Executive  Mansion  at 
Washington.  The  home  they  occupied  until  Thursday  is  the  same  unas- 
suming cottage  they  entered  as  bride  and  groom  a  little  over  thirty  years 
ago.  The  addition  of  five  rooms  and  the  erection  of  a  porte-cochere  alters 
the  exterior  appearance  to  a  certain  degree,  but  the  interior  is  as  simple 
as  plain  wood  and  immaculate  papering  and  hangings  can  make  it. 

61 


62  WILLIAM    Me  KIN  LEY. 

In  Mrs.  McKinley's  boudoir  the  same  simple  marble  mantle  graces 
the  apartment,  some  of  the  same  durable  furniture  fills  the  home  with 
sweet  and  sad  memories  of  the  past. 

No  President  except  Washington  and  Jefferson  retained  their  resi- 
dences in  the  same  domicile  following  their  elevation  to  the  Presidency, 
yet  it  was  the  announced  intention  of  Major  McKinley  to  end  his  days  in 
the  simple,  little,  wooden  cottage  on  North  Market  Street  in  Canton,  Ohio. 

Many  are  the  friends  of  the  McKinleys  in  Washington  who  recall  the 
humble  beginning  of  the  President  in  the  practice  of  law  in  Canton.  His 
moral  uprightness,  his  affiliation  with  the  First  Methodist  Church,  his 
adherence  to  the  principles  of  honor_  and  fair  dealing  in  his  legal  practice 
commended  him  immediately  to  the  people  of  the  little  town,  all  too  ready 
to  recognize  weakness  in  a  new  resident.  So  it  was  not  long  until  William 
McKinley  became  recognized  as  a  leader  in  affairs  of  his  adopted  town. 

Ida  Saxton,  the  daughter  of  the  leading  banker  of  Canton,  was 
impressed  with  the  purity  of  the  young  man,  and  none  could  but  be 
impressed  with  her  sweetness  and  her  reputation  for  good  works. 

The  courtship  was  not  a  short  one,  and  was  happily  concluded.  Can- 
tonians  recall  the  hurry  to  have  the  new  Presbyterian  church  in  readiness 
for  the  ceremony,  for  the  Saxtons  were  Presbyterians.  When  the  even- 
ing for  the  ceremony  arrived  the  auditorium  was  opened  for  the  first 
time ;  a  bright  new  carpet  covered  the  floor,  but  the  furnishings  had  not 
arrived.  Neighbors  from  the  surrounding  houses  loaned  their  chairs  for 
the  occasion  and  joined  with  the  young  friends  of  the  bride  in  decorating 
the  otherwise  bare  walls  with  evergreens  cut  fresh  from  the  front  yard 
pines  and  tamaracks. 

The  auditorium  was  crowded  and  the  ceremony  was  beautiful.  Dr. 
Buckingham,  father  of  Lieutenant  Buckingham  of  the  navy,  officiated. 
Among  the  guests  most  charmed  with  the  ceremony  were  the  members  of 
Ida  Saxton's  infant  class.  On  the  evening  of  the  ceremony  Mrs.  Harriet 
Whiting,  a  friend  of  both  bride  and  groom,  called  Mr.  McKinley  aside 
and  said : 

"Major,  I  want  to  impress  one  word  of  this  marriage  service  upon 
you.  It  is  the  word  'cherish.'  You  are  worthy  of  Ida,  and  she  of  you, 
so  really  cherish  each  other." 

A  few  months  before  the  assassination,  during  the  nearly  fatal  illness 
of  Mrs.  McKinley  in  San  Francisco,  Mrs.  Whiting  related  the  conversa- 
tion and  said : 

"I  told  him  to  cherish  her,  and  he  has  done  it  to  the  full." 

And,  indeed,  this  sentence  might  also  typify  the  home  life  of  the  Pres- 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  63 

ident,  either  in  Canton  or  Washington.  Immediately  after  the  wedding 
ceremony  the  young  couple  took  the  cottage  they  ever  afterward  regarded 
as  their  home,  and  retained  it  practically  ever  since  that  time.  Mr.  Sax- 
ton,  father  of  Mrs.  McKinley,  at  first  objected  to  his  daughter  leaving  his 
home  and  proposed  that  the  young  people  remain  under  the  Saxton  roof, 
but  the  mother,  with  a  keen  insight  into  the  young  woman's  character, 
said: 

"Nothing  so  brings  out  the  good  in  a  girl  as  life  alone  with  her  hus- 
band. If  there  is  strength  in  Ida,  life  under  her  own  roof  with  her  mate 
will  bring  it  to  the  front." 

And  so  the  early  trials  and  triumphs  were  experienced  in  the  little 
cottage;  here  the  two  little  ones  were  born,  and  lingered  only  long  enough 
to  leave  behind  them  the  pale  effulgence  of  infantile  innocence,  to  bind  into 
one  the  lives  of  wife  and  husband,  and  give  to  the  world  the  proof  of  a 
lasting  affection. 

The  social  tastes  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  McKinley  were  modest  in  the 
extreme,  and  as  a  rule  have  been  limited  at  home  to  little  musicales  in 
which  the  young  friends  entertained  their  host  and  hostess  with  vocal  and 
instrumental  music.  The  last  affair  of  the  kind  the  President  attended  was 
in  Canton  during  the  last  week. 

After  taking  up  their  residence  at  the  White  House  little  modification 
has  been  made  in  the  mode  of  living  of  the  McKinleys.  The  friends  of 
their  early  married  life  were  invariably  received  as  freely  as  at  Canton. 
Little  evening  musicales  were  arranged,  and,  no  matter  how  busy  the 
President  might  have  been,  he  always  managed  to  steal  a  few  minutes 
from  official  duties  to  come  and  sit  with  Mrs.  McKinley  for  a  short  time. 
His  own  greatest  pleasure  in  life  seemed  to  be  in  making  her  happy ;  he 
never  forgot  to  "cherish"  her.  Their  guests  for  the  most  part  were 
friends  from  Ohio — usually  nieces  and  nephews. 

One  little  duty  which  seemed  to  give  all  of  the  household  pleasure  was 
the  sending  of  flowers  to  all  the  Washington  hospitals  at  the  holidays. 
The  hospitals  at  Canton  were  never  forgotten,  either,  and  personal  friends 
in  Washington,  Canton  and  Chicago  were  in  frequent  receipt  of  floral 
remembrances  from  the  White  House  conservatories  when  bedridden  with 
illness. 

The  great  dread  of  the  President  in  entering  the  White  House  was 
the  drafts  which  were  reported  to  sweep  through  the  wide  corridors  and 
apartments.  The  day  before  his  first  inauguration  he  read  aloud  to  a 
party  of  friends  an  article,  declaring  that  Mrs.  McKinley  could  not  survive 
a  year  in  such  a  domicile.  There  was  a  marked  vein  of  sarcasm  in  his 


64  WILLIAM    Me  KIN  LEY. 

voice  as  he  read  the  lines,  but  he  evidently  thought  of  the  matter  and 
instructed  an  architect  to  prepare  plans  by  which  the  drafts  might  be 
obviated.  This  was  successfully  done,  to  the  great  relief  of  all  who  were 
cognizant  of  the  real  condition  of  his  wife.  Few  social  functions  aside 
from  those  demanded  officially  have  marked  the  years  at  the  Executive 
Mansion.  The  great  thought  seemed  to  be  the  avoidance  of  ostentation 
and  the  preservation  of  the  sweet  domestic  relation  which  has  endeared 
the  McKinleys  to  all  thinking  people. 

An  incident  is  related  to  illustrate  the  simple  faith  the  mother  of  the 
President  reposed  in  her  great  son.  It  was  on  the  evening  of  his  first  elec- 
tion to  the  Presidency.  A  party  of  friends  were  expressing  their  con- 
fidence in  his  selection,  when  one,  to  guard  against  the  possible  disappoint- 
ment of  a  defeat,  said : 

"Of  course,  he  may  be  beaten." 

Drawing  herself  to  her  full  height,  the  grand  mother  of  this  great  man 
said  simply,  yet  authoritatively : 

"It  makes  little  difference.     He  will  still  be  my  son." 

And  she  would  have  been  satisfied  to  have  him  as  her  own,  without 
the  honor  of  Chief  Magistrate. 

Two  children  blessed  McKinley's  early  married  life,  but  both  of  them 
died  in  infancy.  Since  that  time  he  and  his  wife  were  even  more  closely 
united.  Mrs.  McKinley,  when  her  health  allowed,  took  an  active  interest 
in  her  husband's  career,  and  he  often  fondly  stated  that  he  always  won 
when  he  followed  her  advice. 

President  McKinley  was  distinguished  for  his  easy  geniality,  his 
democratic  bearing  and  his  cordiality  in  receiving  friends  and  acquaint- 
ances. He  smoked  extensively,  and,  like  General  Grant,  had  a  careful 
curb  upon  his  tongue  when  dangerous  topics  were  touched  upon.  He  was, 
generally  speaking,  a  politician  as  well  as  a  statesman,  and  had  as  greaf 
tact  in  handling  men  as  he  had  of  bending  them  to  his  wishes. 

HEROIC  FORTITUDE  OF  MRS.  McKiNLEY. 

After  being  informed  of  the  shooting  of  the  President,  Mrs.  McKinley 
bore  up  with  the  most  remarkable  fortitude.  She,  in  company  with  her 
husband,  had  made  a  trip  to  Niagara  Falls  the  morning  of  the  assassina- 
tion. The  sight-seeing  had  tired  her,  and  on  returning  to  the  Milburn 
residence  she  took  leave  of  her  nieces,  the  Misses  Barber,  and  the  Presi- 
dent's niece,  Miss  Duncan,  as  well  as  their  hostess,  Mrs.  Milburn,  and 
went  to  her  room  to  rest.  She  was  sleeping  when  W.  I.  Buchanan,  Di- 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  65 

rector  General  of  the  Exposition,  arrived  at  the  Milburn  residence  to 
acquaint  the  family  there  with  the  awful  tragedy. 

Mr.  Buchanan  informed  the  nieces  as  gently  as  possible  and  consulted 
Mrs.  Milburn  as  to  the  best  course  to  pursue  in  telling  Mrs.  McKinley  of 
the  accident.  It  was  finally  decided  that  on  her  awakening,  or  shortly 
after,  Mr.  Buchanan  should  see  her,  if  in  the  meantime  her  physician,  Dr. 
Rixey,  had  not  arrived. 

Mrs.  McKinley  awoke  about  5:30  o'clock.  She  was  feeling  splen- 
didly, she  said,  and  at  once  took  up  her  crocheting,  which,  as  was  well 
known,  was  one  of  her  favorite  diversions. 

While  the  light  of  day  remained  Mrs.  McKinley  continued  with  her 
crocheting,  keeping  to  her  room.  When  it  became  dusk  and  the  President 
had  not  arrived  she  began  to  feel  anxious  concerning  him. 

"I  wonder  why  he  does  not  come,"  she  said  to  one  of  her  nieces. 

There  was  no  clock  in  Mrs.  McKinley's  room,  and  although  it  was 
7  o'clock  she  had  no  idea  it  was  so  late,  but  felt  anxious  concerning  her 
husband,  for  he  was  due  to  return  to  Mr.  Milburn's  house  about  6  o'clock. 

At  7  o'clock  Dr.  Rixey  arrived  at  the  Milburn  residence.  He  had 
been  driven  hurriedly  down  Delaware  Avenue  in  an  open  carriage.  At 
7:20  o'clock  Dr.  Rixey  came  out  of  the  house,  accompanied  by  Colonel 
Webb  Hayes,  a  son  of  former  President  Hayes,  who  was  a  friend  of 
President  McKinley.  They  entered  a  carriage  and  returned  to  the  Expo- 
sition Hospital.  After  Dr.  Rixey  had  gone  Director  General  Buchanan 
said  the  doctor  had  informed  Mrs.  McKinley  in  a  most  gentle  manner  and 
she  met  the  shock  bravely,  though  considerably  affected. 

If  it  was  possible  to  bring  him  to  her  she  wanted  it  done.  Dr.  Rixey 
assured  her  that  the  President  could  be  brought  with  safety  from  the 
Exposition  grounds,  and  when  he  left  Mr.  Milburn's  it  was  to  complete 
all  arrangements  for  the  removal  of  the  President. 

Shortly  after  9  o'clock  the  morning  after  the  shooting  the  President 
asked  for  Mrs.  McKinley,  saying  that  he  would  like  greatly  to  see  her  if 
the  physicians  thought  no  harm  would  result.  Dr.  Rixey,  after  a  con- 
ference with  the  other  physicians,  went  to  Mrs.  McKinley's  room  on  the 
south  side  of  the  house  and  told  her  that  her  husband  wished  to  see  her. 

At  10  o'clock  Mrs.  McKinley,  aided  by  Dr.  Rixey  and  an  attendant, 
entered  the  President's  room.  The  President  turned  toward  her  as  she 
entered  and  slightly  raised  his  head  from  the  pillow. 

Mrs.  McKinley  advanced  to  the  bedside,  and,  resting  beside  it,  she 
took  the  President's  hand  and  for  over  two  minutes  they  sat  in  silence 
looking  at  each  other,  their  hands  clasped. 


66  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

The  President  whispered  reassuringly  that  he  suffered  little  and  had 
been  comfortable  throughout  the  night.  Tears  rose  in  Mrs.  McKinley's 
eyes,  and  the  President,  gently  stroking  her  hand,  said  quietly : 

"You  know  you  must  bear  up  well.    That  is  the  best  for  both  of  us." 

Mrs.  McKinley  nodded,  and  Dr.  Rixey  then  escorted  her  back  to  her 
room.  The  President  brightened  visibly  after  seeing  her.  He  became 
easier  and  his  pulse  fell  and  his  respiration  became  slower. 

Solicitude  over  the  condition  of  the  President  was  almost  equaled  by 
solicitude  for  the  welfare  of  Mrs.  McKinley.  Every  caller  who  inquired 
about  the  progress  of  the  President  asked  also  how  Mrs.  McKinley  was 
bearing  the  shock  of  the  calamity. 

They  learned  that  Mrs.  McKinley,  thanks  to  the  skill  of  the  physicians, 
did  not  suffer  so  much  as  if  she  were  keenly  alive  to  every  detail  of  the 
President's  suffering.  She  was,  however,  kept  constantly  informed  of  his 
condition.  She  remained  in  her  room  and  was  much  rested.  Throughout 
the  afternoon  it  was  said  that  she  slept,  and  every  precaution  was  taken 
to  have  all  the  neighborhood  absolutely  quiet.  It  was  decided  that  even 
the  two  telegraph  instruments  in  the  barn  west  of  the  house  were  too 
noisy,  and  they  were  moved  elsewhere. 

Director  General  Buchanan,  with  Charles  R.  Huntley,  spent  prac- 
tically all  the  morning  hours  at  the  house  aiding  in  carrying  out  whatever 
arrangements  were  proposed  for  the  better  comfort  of  the  two  patients. 
The  physicians  decided  that  the  room  should  be  cooler,  and  additional  fans 
were  placed  during  the  day  by  Mr.  Huntley. 

Mr.  Milburn  received  all  callers  who  passed  the  police  lines  and  the 
guards  of  sentry  and  reached  the  front  veranda.  Of  the  hundreds  of 
callers  comparatively  few  actually  entered  the  house.  Only  Senator  Mark 
Hanna  and  one  or  two  others  saw  the  President. ' 

Any  sketch  of  President  McKinley  would  be  incomplete  without  some 
personal  description  of  the  man.  One  who  knew  him  well  and  had  written 
of  him  said  a  short  time  before  the  shooting : 

"He  is  in  build  inclined  to  stockiness,  with,  indeed,  a  tendency  to 
corpulency ;  but  with  all  that  he  is  of  shapely  stature  and  well  proportioned. 
His  head  is  well  set  on  a  stout  neck  and  broad,  well-defined  shoulders. 
His  chest  is  full,  showing  strong  lung  capacity.  His  legs  are  sturdy ;  he 
is,  in  fact,  muscular  all  through.  He  is  possessed  of  great  physical  force, 
and  it  has  been  said  of  him  that  had  he  gone  into  training  when  a  young 
man,  he  would  have  made  a  champion  wrestler." 


WILLIAM    Me  KIN  LEY.  67 

PRESIDENT  McKiNLEY's  CONTROL  OF  HIMSELF. 

Just  after  the  shooting  of  the  President,  an  old  and  intimate  friend 
gave  an  analysis  of  his  general  character — his  habits,  disposition,  self-con- 
trol, and  other  dominant  traits.  Said  he : 

"The  President  is  not  an  athlete;  he  is  not  a  sportsman.  He  does 
not  indulge  nor  engage  in  marked  physical  activity  in  any-  direction.  Mod- 
eration in  exercise  is  characteristic  of  him.  He  manages  to  spend  some 
time  daily  in  the  open  air,  either  driving  or  walking,  but  his  walks  have 
not  been  long  or  wearying,  and  his  drives  have  been  taken  with  chief 
regard  for  Mrs.  McKinley's  comfort  and  strength,  rather  than  for  his  own. 
The  President  has  been  very  regular  in  his  habits.  He  can  not  be  called 
abstemious  in  his  eating  and  drinking,  perhaps;  but,  on  the  other  hand, 
all  who  know  him  recognize  that  he  is  uniformly  careful  in  such  matters. 
Without  pursuing  any  regimen  or  accustoming  himself  to  particular  arti- 
cles of  diet,  he  has  not  been  indulgent  to  appetite.  Rational  living  is  an 
expression  which  best  suits  the  President's  habits.  As  the  result  of  it,  he 
has  maintained  a  degree  of  good  health  unusual  among  men  in  public  life, 
subject  to  the  strain  of  high  official  position.  In  over  four  years  of  the 
Presidency,  Mr.  McKinley  has  had  only  one  really  serious  sick  spell.  That 
was  last  winter,  when  he  narrowly  escaped  an  attack  of  pneumonia.  For 
three  days  it  was  known  to  his  intimate  friends,  but  not  to  the  public, 
that  it  seemed  probable  he  could  not  escape  a  long  battle  with  this  disease. 
The  superb  physical  condition  in  which  the  President  keeps  himself  as  a 
rule  enabled  the  physicians  to  ward  off  the  threatened  attack,  and  the 
patient  came  out  with  nothing  worse  than  temporary  weakness. 

"The  President  has  shown  in  his  own  case  that  it  is  possible  by  regu- 
larity of  habit  and  by  moderation  in  eating  and  drinking  and  in  exercise 
to  maintain  a  physical  system  as  nearly  perfect  as  is  possible  in  a  human 
being.  Probably  not  one  man  in  twenty — perhaps  not  one  in  fifty — would 
have  escaped  pneumonia  as  the  President  did  last  winter.  Probably  four 
out  of  five  men  who  had  gone  through  what  the  President  had  in  the  way 
of  work  and  strain  would  have  succumbed  to  the  disease.  Thus,  while  the 
President  is  in  nowise  an  athlete  and  does  not  train  in  any  way  to  maintain 
his  physical  condition,  he  is  nevertheless  prepared  at  all  times  with  strength 
and  vitality  to  respond  to  any  extraordinary  call.  Because  of  this  general 
and  continuously  good  physical  condition,  Mr.  McKinley  will  now  be  able 
to  supplement,  so  far  as  can  be  done  physically,  the  efforts  of  the  surgeons. 

"But  this  is  not  all  that  strengthens  the  possible  chances  in  his  favor. 
The  newspapers  tell  of  the  calmness  with  which  he  withstood  the  shock 


C.S  WILLIAM    Me  KIN  LEY. 

in  Music  Hall  at  Buffalo.  Those  who  know  the  President  can  readily 
appreciate  the  exact  truthfulness  of  the  description.  It  is  said  by  those 
\vLo  remember  the  President  as  he  was  twenty-five  or  thirty  years  ago, 
that  he  was  at  times  impulsive  and  like  other  men  of  strong  character, 
and  that  he  did  occasionally  express  himself  vigorously  in  word  and  action. 
Those  who  know  Mr.  McKinley  only  as  he  is  now  can  hardly  realize  that 
he  was  not  born  with  the  perfect  self-control  which  is  so  characteristic  of 
him. 

"It  is  an  interesting  and  beautiful  story  which  those  who  have  been 
near  to  him  for  many  years  tell  of  the  gradual  development  of  this  unusual 
power  of  self-command.  As  the  story  goes,  Mr.  McKinley  took  the  first 
steps  in  this  direction  because  of  his  devotion  to  his  invalid  wife.  He  early 
realized  that  her  health  depended  greatly  on  protection  from  every-day 
care  and  worry.  He  saw  how  dependent  she  was  on  his  moods.  His 
first  lessons  in  self-control  were  taken  in  his  efforts  to  shield  the  gentle 
lady  from  annoyances  and  troubles.  It  became  the  habit  with  him  to 
throw  aside  cares  of  office  and  position  and  work  when  he  went  into  her 
presence  and  to  appear  before  her  smiling  and  cheerful  always.  No  matter 
what  the  unusual  strain  of  the  day  might  have  been,  or  what  anxiety  was 
upon  his  mind,  he  acquired  the  habit  of  keeping  the  knowledge  of  them 
from  Mrs.  McKinley.  This  mental  culture  grew  and  developed  until 
William  McKinley  became  a  perfect  master  of  himself. 

"Many  people  have  misunderstood  this  characteristic  of  the  President. 
They  have  misinterpreted  the  evenness  of  his  temper  and  the  absence  of 
human  mental  weaknesses." 


CHAPTER  V. 

DEATH  OF  PRESIDENT  McKiNLEY  AT  THE  MILBURN  MANSION  AT  FIFTEEN 
MINUTES  PAST  Two  O'CLOCK  ON  THE  MORNING  OF  SATURDAY,  SEP- 
TEMBER I4TH,  1901 — GANGRENE  THE  CAUSE — AT  ONE  TIME  HE 
SEEMED  TO  BE  ON  THE  ROAD  TO  RECOVERY — "Goo's  WILL,  NOT  OURS, 
BE  DONE,"  THE  LAST  WORDS  OF  THE  MARTYR  CHIEF  MAGISTRATE — 
THOSE  AT  THE  BEDSIDE. 


President  McKinley  died  at  the  Milburn  residence  at  Buffalo  at  fifteen 
minutes  past  2  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  Saturday,  September  I4th,  1901, 
about  seven  days  and  ten  hours  after  he  was  shot.  He  died  painlessly, 
after  a  long  period  of  unconsciousness,  his  last  words  being,  "God's  will, 
not  ours,  be  done." 

Death  resulted  from  gangrene.  The  bullets  had  been  poisoned.  The 
President  had  been  for  many  years  an  incessant  smoker  and  had  what 
is  known  as  a  "tobacco  heart,"  but  heart  exhaustion  did  not  cause  his 
death,  as  his  doctors  at  first  thought.  The  President's  heart  gave  trouble 
from  the  beginning,  but  its  erratic  action  was  at  first  thought  to  be  due 
to  the  shock  of  the  wound,  but  when  the  wound  had  begun  to  progress 
favorably  the  heart  gave  more  trouble  and  anxiety  than  ever.  Its  action 
became  feeble  and  finally  gave  out  altogether. 

Some  of  the  physicians  in  attendance  upon  the  stricken  President 
did  not  believe  there  was  organic  heart  trouble.  The  theory 
of  at  least  one  of  the  physicians  was  that  the  original  shock  of  the  first 
bullet  over  the  heart  had  much  to  do  with  the  trouble  which  caused  death. 

After  every  resource  was  exhausted  for  over  twenty-four  hours, 
after  the  sinking  spell  early  on  Friday  morning,  September  I3th,  death 
came  to  the  twenty-fifth  President  of  the  United  States.  His  end  was  that 
of  perfect  peace. 

For  many  hours  the  President's  hold  on  life  was  so  slight  that  the 
work  of  the  surgeons  was  confined  to  watching  the  flickering  spark  with- 
out attempting  to  fan  it  into  life  artificially. 

Practically  all  medicines  and  oxygen  treatments  were  abandoned  a 
considerable  time  before  midnight.  All  hope  was  lost  then,  and  the  only 
thing  left  to  do  was  to  wait  for  the  worn  out  machinery  to  run  down. 


70  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

Mrs.  McKinley  had  been  with  the  President  twice  during  the  early 
part  of  the  evening. 

Just  before  the  President  lost  consciousness  Mrs.  McKinley  knelt  at 
his  side.  He  knew  her  and  said :  "Good-bye,  all ;  good-bye.  It  is  God's 
way ;  not  our  will,  but  thine  be  done." 

And  so  ended  the  life  of  a  man  who  was  an  example  of  the  best  type 
of  American  citizenship.  The  simplicity  of  his  character  was  marked,  a 
quality  peculiar  to  all  really  great  men.  He  was  unselfish  and  genuinely 
patriotic,  always  devoted  to  the  service  of  his  country  in  whatever  posi- 
tion his  fellow-citizens  placed  him.  His  character  was  remarkable  for 
tenderness  of  thought,  nobility  of  action,  purity  of  mind,  and  elevation 
of  sentiment.  He  was  a  man  fitted  to  take  rank  with  any  of  his  prede- 
cessors in  office,  in  history,  and  in  public  estimation. 

The  life  of  President  McKinley,.  which  had  been  sustained  with  pow- 
erful drafts  of  oxygen,  seemed  to  fade  away  soon  after  ten  o'clock  p.  m., 
September  I3th,  and  consciousness  was  lost  permanently. 

Around  what  was  supposed  to  be  the  actual  deathbed,  besides  the 
surgeons  in  the  case,  were  Abner  McKinley,  Miss  Helen  McKinley,  and 
Mrs.  Duncan,  the  brother  and  sisters  of  the  President.  They  were  hur- 
riedly called  to  witness  the  passing  of  a  brother  and  a  President.  Yet  an 
hour  seemed  to  be  delayed  from  one  brief  moment  to  another. 

Down-stairs  and  in  the  hall  were  the  other  members  of  the  family, 
Mrs.  Abner  McKinley,  a  sister-in-law ;  Miss  Mary  Barber,  the  President's 
favorite  niece ;  Mrs.  Lafayette  McWilliams,  of  Chicago,  a  cousin  of  Mrs. 
McKinley;  Lieutenant  James  McKinley,  a  nephew;  John  Barber,  a 
nephew ;  Mrs.  Baer,  a  niece,  with  Mr.  Baer,  and  Secretaries  Root,  Wilson 
and  Hitchcock,  and  Attorney-General  Knox.  The  latter,  with  Secretary 
Long,  had  arrived  only  a  few  minutes  before  midnight,  and  Secretary 
Long  left  about  10  o'clock,  so  that  he  was  not  present  when  the  end  came. 

OFFICIALS  AMONG  THE  WATCHERS. 

Next  in  official  importance  among  the  watchers  were  United  States 
Senator  Hanna  of  Ohio,  Controller  of  the  Currency  C.  G.  Dawes,  Sen- 
ator Fairbanks  of  Indiana,  Governor  Yates  of  Illinois,  J.  H.  Milburn, 
president  of  the  Pan-American  Exposition,  in  whose  house  the  President 
died;  Colonel  Myron  T.  Herrick,  with  his  wife;  and  half  a  score  of 
others  who  came  and  went.  Included  among  these  were  Colonel  W.  C. 
Brown,  Abner  McKinley's  law  partner;  Russell  B.  Harrison,  son  of 
former  President  Benjamin  Harrison;  Webb  C.  Hayes,  son  of  former 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  71 

President  Rutherford  B.  Hayes;  and  many  others  whose  figures  could 
scarcely  be  distinguished  in  the  gloom. 

The  President's  turn  for  the  worse  came  at  2  o'clock  on  Friday  morn- 
ing, and  it  was  almost  exactly  twenty-four  hours  later  before  the  last 
flicker  of  life  had  died  away.  It  was  the  heart  which  failed  early  in  tho 
morning  following  upon  the  partial  collapse  on  the  Thursday  night  before, 
and  all  through  the  terrible  day  into  the  night  the  heart  of  the  good 
President  beat  with  irregular  throbs  which  told  of  the  inevitable  end. 

Mrs.  McKinley  was  warned  that  it  was  only  a  question  of  minutes 
before  the  end  came,  but  as  these  minutes  drifted  into  hours  her  strength 
failed  completely  and  she  was  forced  to  retire,  under  the  commands  of  the 
physicians,  who  alone  could  tell  whether  life  was  extinct  or  not. 

Secretary  Cortelyou  came  out  of  the  Milburn  house  about  2 :20  a.  m., 
and  in  a  voice  that  trembled  with  emotion  announced : 

"The  President  died  at  2:15." 

He  then  gave  the  names  of  the  family  and  friends  present  at  the 
bedside  when  the  end  came  and  returned  to  the  house. 

Immediately  thereafter  the  party  that  had  been  assembled  in  the 
house  during  the  night  broke  up,  coming  down  the  walk  singly  and  in 
pairs. 

Everybody  was  deeply  affected.  Several  of  the  men  were  sobbing 
aloud  as  they  passed  on  their  way  to  their  carriages 

A  noticeable  theme  of  comment  was  occasioned  by  the  hour  at  which 
the  dearh  occurred.  It  partook  somewhat  of  the  providential  that  the 
event  should  have  come  in  the  dead  of  night  instead  of  the  early  evening, 
when  the  thousands  who  gathered  on  the  streets  of  the  city  were  in  no 
tender  mood.  Had  the  death  come  earlier  it  is  possible  that  the  authori- 
ties would  have  had  to  cope  with  more  or  less  violence. 

RESULT  WAS  CERTAIN  FOR  MANY  HOURS. 

From  2 130  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  Friday  there  w.as  no  time  when 
the  result  was  greatly  in  doubt.  The  vigil  was  long  and  distressing  for 
friends,  officials,  police,  soldiers,  correspondents,  telegraphers,  and  all, 
but  down  to  the  humblest  messenger  boy  there  were  constant  and  real 
prayers  for  the  life  of  the  beloved  President. 

Ever  since  the  shooting,  one  week  previously,  the  vicinity  of  Ferry 
street  and  Delaware  avenue  had  been  carefully  patrolled  so  that  the  Presi- 
dent might  have  all  possible  quiet. 

In  front  and  beside  the  house  soldiers  of  the  Fourteenth  United  States 


72  WILLIAM    McKlNLEY. 

Infantry  paced  their  regular  beats,  while  police  and  officers  of  the  secret 
service  patrolled  the  neighborhood  to  guard  it  from  the  idle  and  the  noisy. 

It  was  2 130  o'clock  on  Friday  morning  that  the  first  frantic  messages 
were  sent  to  the  absent  physicians,  while  a  few  minutes  later  the  series  of 
awful  summonses  was  sent  out  for  the  old  friends,  relatives,  officials, 
associates,  and,  more  than  all,  for  the  young  soldier  who  seemed  about  to 
be  called  to  vast  responsibility. 

Vice-President  Roosevelt  was  harder  to  get  at  than  any  one  else 
who  was  summoned.  He  went  away  from  Buffalo  two  days  before,  con- 
fident that  the  President  would  live.  Being  entirely  free  from  anxiety, 
as  well  as  from  personal  longing,  Colonel  Roosevelt  had  gon  to  the  Adiron- 
dacks,  out  of  the  reach  of  the  telegraph. 

Senator  Hanna,  ex-Secretary  of  State  Day,  ^enator  Fairbanks,  and 
several  members  of  the  immediate  family  came  from  Cleveland  on  a 
special  train  at  seventy  miles  an  hour,  but  the  Vice-President,  whose  heir 
apparency  was  so  clear  to  all,  could  not  be  brought  to  the  scene. 

It  was  only  during  the  dark  hours  that  word  finally  was  received 
from  Mr.  Roosevelt,  and  it  became  necessary  to  notify  him  to  be  prepared 
to  take  the  oath  of  office  while  on  the  road,  in  order  that  the  great  office 
of  President  might  not  be  vacant  even  for  an  hour. 

The  custom  is  for  any  officer,  properly  qualified,  to  administer  the 
oath,  which  is  then  administered  again  in  Washington,  with  more  cere- 
mony, by  the  Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court. 

When  President  Lincoln  died  Vice-President  Johnson  was  in  Wash- 
ington; at  the  time  of  the  death  of  President  Garfield,  Vice-President 
Arthur  was  in  New  York  at  his  home  in  Lexington  Avenue,  where  the 
oath  was  administered  to  him  by  Justice  Brady,  of  the  State  Supreme 
Court  cl  New  York.  Later  President  Arthur  took  the  oath  again  in  the 
Vice-President's  chamber  in  the  Capitol  at  Washington,  Supreme  Chief 
Justice  Morrison  R.  Waite  administering  it. 

PRESIDENT  BREATHING  FREELY  AT  MIDNIGHT. 

Apparently  the  President  seemed  to  wait  for  all  his  own  and  his 
official  family.  At  midnight  he  was  still  breathing ;  life  was  a  mere  flutter 
of  the  heart,  a  feeble  breath,  more  of  the  oxygen  tank  than  of  the  lungs, 
but  it  was  life  none  the  less. 

When  Secretary  Long  and  Dr.  Janeway,  the  New  York  expert, 
arrived  they  were  greeted  with  the  unexpected  tidings  that  the  minutes 
had  lengthened  into  hours,  and  yet  the  light  of  a  great  man's  life,  though 
flickering,  had  failed  to  disappear  entirely. 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  73 

At  no  time  from  sunrise  to  sunset,  from  noon  to  midnight,  would 
the  end  have  seemed  at  all  strange,  and  it  was  deferred,  strangely,  from 
one  brief  period  to  another,  long  after  every  one  had  given  up  hope. 

For  a  week  the  guard  with  fixed  bayonets  had  worn  a  patch  on  the 
turf  about  the  Milburn  house,  a  hospital  residence  now  historical.  The 
street  was  dark,  and  the  neighboring  houses  showed  few  lights.  The 
electric  globes  at  the  street  corner,  shining  on  the  fixed  bayonets  of  the 
regular  troops,  whose  faces,  bronzed  in  the  Philippines,  were  seamed  with 
anxious  care. 

As  the  night  wore  on  the  guard,  under  Lieutenant  Murphy,  was 
changed  over  and  over  again.  Meanwhile,  doctors  and  statesmen  stepped 
in  and  out. 

Every  few  minutes  some  duly  accredited  visitor,  from  the  inner 
rooms  of  the  house,  appeared  to  announce  that  the  President  could  not 
last  more  than  a  few  brief  moments. 

Mrs.  McKinley  was  gently  told  hours  before  midnight  that  the  Presi- 
dent, her  husband,  had  only  a  few  minutes  to  live,  and  yet  midnight  found 
the  doctors  counting  fair  vibrations  of  the  pulse.  The  President  had  sunk 
into  unconsciousness,  and  it  seemed  as  if  he  were  determined  to  stay,  like 
a  good  soldier,  until  he  could  turn  the  command  over  to  another. 

At  5 130  in  the  evening  Colonel  Brown,  with  tears  running  down  his 
cheeks,  announced  that  the  end  was  at  hand,  and  at  10  o'clock  the  last 
words  of  the  slowly  dying  President  were  reverently  handed  about,  and 
yet  at  midnight  the  beloved  martyr  still  lingered. 

CROWDS  SURROUND  ASSASSIN'S  JAIL. 

During  the  early  part  of  the  evening  crowds  began  to  gather  about 
the  station-house,  where  the  assassin,  Czolgosz,  was  confined,  and  the 
purpose  of  their  gathering  was  at  no  time  mysterious.  People  gathered 
rapidly,  who  openly  declared  they  intended  to  lynch  the  assassin,  if  tha 
President  died. 

The  authorities  were  fully  alive  to  the  situation  and  agents  of  the 
secret  service  reported  that  the  people  were  excited  beyond  measure.  There 
were  not  only  the  people  of  Buffalo,  indignant  at  the  disgrace  to  their  city, 
but  strangers,  who  had  no  neighborly  respect  for  the  local  authorities. 

Governor  Odell  acted  promptly  and  gave  orders  to  protect  the  jail. 
Thus  the  assassin  was  safe  from  penalty  for  the  miserable  death  he  had 
dealt  out  to  the  President. 

The  police  and  the  military  roped  the  streets  for  blocks  around  the 
station-house,  and  the  people,  diverted  from  their  prey  by  the  strong  show 


74  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

of  force,  crowded  about  the  bulletin  boards,  learning  that  Dr.  Janeway  of 
New  York,  the  specialist  on  the  heart,  was  making  an  examination.  It 
was  the  heart  which  had  failed  all  through  the  day,  and,  in  spite  of  the 
great  odds  against  them,  the  doctors  still  hoped  at  1 1 130  that  some  means 
might  yet  be  found  to  save  the  President  from  death. 

The  beginning  of  the  end  came  in  the  same  way  the  crisis  of  Thurs- 
day night  began.  There  was  a  sudden  development  of  weakness,  and  the 
heart  action  became  faint  and  fluctuating.  The  first  intimation  of  the 
danger  to  the  outside  watchers  was  when  a  negro  servant  came  hurriedly 
out  of  the  house  and  started  away  towards  town  at  a  swift  pace.  Then 
came  a  series  of  bulletins,  some  formal  and  some  informal,  hurried  by 
Secretary  Cortelyou.  They  all  told  one  story.  The  President's  condi- 
tion was  grave ;  he  was  low ;  he  was  practically  dying ;  there  was  little  or 
no  hope. 

Then  came  State  Senator  Dodge  from  the  Cleveland  district,  an  old 
friend  of  the  President.  His  face  showed  strong  signs  of  emotion.  He 
spoke  hardly  above  a  whisper  to  the  dense  throng  of  reporters  who  gath- 
ered about  him.  "The  President  is  dying,"  he  said.  "He  is  uncon- 
scious. He  recognizes  none  of  those  about  him." 

Soon  after  this  Dr.  McBurney  and  a  carriage  came  rushing  up  the 
line,  the  horses  on  a  gallop.  He  said  not  a  word,  but  hurried  almost  at  a 
trot  from  the  carriage  to  the  house.  Colonel  W.  C.  Brown  came  next. 
He  ran  as  fast  as  he  could  over  the  ground  from  the  carriage  and  dashed 
up  to  the  porch  three  steps  at  a  time. 

The  report  now  came  out  at  7:55  that  the  President  had  recovered 
consciousness ;  that  he  fully  realized  that  the  end  was  at  hand,  and  that  he 
had  asked  for  Mrs.  McKinley.  She  was  taken  into  the  room  and  to  her 
husband's  bedside. 

BIDS  FAREWELL  TO  His  WIFE. 

All  left  the  room  then,  save  one  nurse,  the  husband  and  wife  were 
practically  alone.  The  President  was  able  to  speak  faintly  as  his  wife 
bent  over  him.  What  he  said  only  he  and  she  knew.  Those  who  knew 
how  tenderly  and  constantly  he  had  cared  for  her  and  how  great  his 
anxiety  had  been  for  her  ever  since  he  was  stricken  down  by  the  anarchist's 
bullet  could  hardly  speak  of  that  pitiful  scene  without  almost  breaking 
down  as  the  thought  of  it. 

Meantime  the  door  of  the  sick-room  was  thrown  open,  and  those 
nearest  the  President  were  quietly  gathered  about  it.  In  the  group  were 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Abner  McKinley,  Mrs.  Baer,  the  President's  niece;  Miss 


WILLIAM    Me  KIN  LEY.  75 

Barber,  Mrs.  McKinley's  niece;  Judge  Day,  Secretaries  Root,  Hitchcock 
and  Wilson,  Senator  Hanna,  and  Mrs.  McWilliams. 

NEWS  SPREADS  THROUGH  THE  CITY. 

Up  to  this  time  the  crowd  had  been  steadily  gathering  at  the  outer 
barriers  of  rope  stretched  across  the  streets  two  blocks  away  in  all  direc- 
tions. The  news  of  the  relapse  seemed  to  have  spread  over  the  city  like 
wildfire.  It  was  first  reported  that  the  President  was  dying.  Then  the 
rumor  spread  that  he  was  dead.  Peopte  began  steadily  gathering  about 
the  barriers,  speaking  in  low  tones  scarce  above  a  whisper,  asking  the 
policemen  on  guard  for  news. 

The  officers,  several  of  whom  were  visibly  affected  by  the  solemnity 
of  it  all,  could  only  report  such  faint  and  uncertain  echoes  as  now  and  then 
reached  them  from  the  sick-room.  Scores  of  women,  whose  apparel  and 
bearing  showed  them  to  be  persons  of  refinement  and  comfortable  means, 
were  in  the  groups.  They  all  wanted  to  know  how  Mrs.  McKinley  was. 
Next  to  the  President  himself  the  interest  centered  in  her. 

Meantime  for  several  moments  nothing  had  come  from  the  house. 
The  last  had  been  the  announcement  that  Mrs.  McKinley  was  at  her 
husband's  deathbed  and  that  the  rest  of  his  family,  personal  as  well  as 
official,  who  were  in  the  house  were  gathered  about  the  open  door  of  the 
room  where  the  President  was  breathing  his  last. 

SENATOR  SYMONDS  BRINGS  SAD  MESSAGE. 

Then  at  8:25  Senator  Symonds  came  out  of  the  house  and  walked 
slowly  down  the  paved  path  to  the  sidewalk.  It  was  evident  he  came  with 
something  to  say  and  that  it  was  something  of  sad  import.  At  first  it 
was  thought  that  it  was  the  final  message  that  all  was  over.  Yet  it  was 
believed  that  this  event  would  be  announced  by  Secretary  Cortelyou.  Next 
to  the  actual  statement  that  the  President  was  dead,  that  which  Senator 
Symonds  had  to  tell  could  not  have  been  worse.  The  President  was  in 
extremis,  he  said. 

It  was  not  believed  that  the  President  could  live  three  minutes  when 
he  (Symonds)  stepped  out  of  doors.  He  might  even  be  dead  at  that 
moment.  As  this  report  spread  the  hush  that  already  was  upon  the  hun- 
dred or  more  people  within  the  ropes  seemed  to  become  even  deeper. 

GREAT  THRONG  is  SILENT. 

Scarce  a  word  was  spoken.  It  was  like  the  solemn  stillness  of  a 
church  so  far  as  those  nearest  the  house  were  concerned.  The  only  sound 


76  WILLIAM    McK  IN  LEY. 

was  in  the  swift  clicking  of  the  telegraph  instruments  as  the  news  was 
rushed  away  to  all  parts  of  the  country. 

The  only  thing  that  jarred  in  all  the  scene  was  the  glare  of  the  Exposi- 
tion fireworks  something  like  a  mile  and  a  half  away.  The  dull  report  of 
exploding  bombs  could  be  heard,  and  the  colored  lights  played  directly 
upon  one  of  the  windows  of  the  room  in  which  the  President  lay  dying. 
The  Exposition  managers  evidently  had  not  heard  of  the  President's 
critical  condition.  At  all  events,  they  started  up  their  pyrotechnics  at  the 
usual  hour.  The  half- whispered  comments  of  the  groups  within  the  ropes 
were  words  of  indignation  at  the  heedlessness  of  somebody. 

LIFE  PROLONGED  BY  OXYGEN. 

James  F.  Chard  brought  out  at  9 120  p.  m.  the  only  news  that  came 
from  the  house  for  some  time.  It  practically  amounted  to  the  statement 
that  the  President  was  only  being  kept  alive  by  oxygen.  He  had  intervals 
of  a  sort  of  consciousness,  which  is  made  manifest  only  by  a  low  moan 
now  and  then.  He  said  nothing.  It  is  doubtful  if  even  dimly  he  recog- 
nized those  about  him.  Up  to  9  o'clock  the  only  two  persons  who  had 
been  by  the  bedside  save  the  doctors  and  nurses  were  Mrs.  McKinley  and 
Abner  McKinley. 

Mrs.  McKinley  remained  by  her  husband  about  ten  minutes.  It  was 
thought  then  she  was  bearing  up  well.  Abner  McKinley  only  stood  by 
the  bedside  and  looked  at  his  brother  for  a  moment  and  then  walked  out. 

Mrs.  Hanna  and  Dan  R.  Hanna  came  hurriedly  up  in  an  automobile 
at  9:20  and  went  into  the  house.  Then  came  Attorney  General  Knox, 
who  had  hardly  got  inside  the  door  before  the  message  from  Secretary 
Cortelyou  came  out — the  message  that  the  end  was  at  hand.  Secretary 
Cortelyou's  words  were: 

"I  wish  to  announce  to  the  press  and  to  the  American  people  that 
the  President  is  dying." 

DEATH  CHILL  is  ANNOUNCED. 

Almost  at  the  same  time  word  came  from  Dr.  Mynter  that  the  death 
chill  had  set  in.  At"  this  time  the  fireworks  at  the  Exposition  were  bang- 
ing away,  and  the  dull  exploding  of  the  bombs  came  rapidly,  one  after 
the  other.  Nobody  heeded  it  then.  Attention  was  too  concentrated  on 
every  movement  about  the  door  of  the  house  to  heed  for  a  moment  any- 
thing else.  At  9 143  there  came  another  formal  statement  from  Secretary 
Cortelyou.  It  was  that  the  President  was  unconscious,  and  that  his  last 
lucid  moments  were  spent  with  Mrs.  McKinley.  "The  pulse  has  left  the 


Czolgosz  Pinioned  by  Guards  and  Officers  while  Awaiting  the 
Arrival  of  the  Police 


N 
(0 

o 

•so 

"o 

N 

U 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  81 

President's  extremities.  Consciousness  seems  to  have  departed  finally. 
He  may  live  until  midnight.  In  his  last  moments  of  consciousness  the 
President  spoke  words  of  comfort  to  Mrs.  McKinley." 

HE  BOWED  TO  THE  WILL  OF  GOD. 

At  a  few  minutes  after  10,  Mr.  Cortelyou  gave  for  publication  what  in 
all  human  probability,  as  the  outlook  was  then,  would  be  William  PJc- 
Kinley's  last  words  on  earth.  They  were: 

"God's  will  be  done,  not  ours." 

They  were  addressed  to  Mrs.  McKinley  as  she  sat  by  his  side  taking 
her  last  farewell  of  him.  Immediately  after  uttering  them  the  President 
lapsed  into  unconsciousness. 

At  various  times  the  President's  mind  wandered  during  the  night  and 
in  his  delirium  he  spoke  of  his  home  in  Canton.  That  he  was  suffering 
seemed  evident  from  the  pitiful  way  in  which  he  talked  about  his  longing 
for  rest.  It  was  in  connection  with  his  longing  for  rest  that  he  wandered 
about  his  home.  To  get  home  and  rest — that  was  the  one  thing  that  ran 
through  all  his  delirious  moments. 

Nothing  came  from  the  house  after  the  statement  concerning  the 
President's  last  words  until  10:40,  when  Dr.  Mann  sent  out  in  response 
to  a  request  that  the  President  was  still  breathing  and  might  live  an  hour. 

"What  will  be  the  cause  of  death  ?"  was  asked. 

"Apparently  it  is  some  affection  of  the  heart,"  he  replied,  "but  we 
do  not  know  what  it  is  exactly.  Senator  Hanna  has  given  us  to  under- 
stand that  there  will  be  an  autopsy,  but  we  are  in  the  dark.  The  Presi- 
dent's pulse  had  been  rapid  from  the  start.  It  had  never  behaved  right. 
It  had  steadily  and  progressively  grown  weaker. 

"For  the  last  twenty-four  hours  he  had  been  having  sinking  spells 
off  and  on,  each  one  worse  and  each  one  harder  to  bring  him  back  from. 

"The  President  did  not  believe  until  late  today  that  he  would  die.  He 
told  me  this  morning  he  had  not  lost  heart.  We  were  laughing  and  joking 
while  I  was  dressing  the  wound.  He  said  to  me :  'I  feel  that  I  will  get 
well.' 

"This  evening  he  spoke  to  Dr.  Rixey  about  dying.  He  said  he  felt 
it  was  almost  over.  He  then  asked  for  his  wife.  Mrs.  McKinley  was 
with  him  for  an  hour  and  a  half.  They  conversed  together,  making  their 
farewells. 

MRS.  MCKINLEY  BORE  UP  BRAVELY. 
"Mrs.  McKinley  bears  up  splendidly.     While  she  was  with  her  hus- 


82  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

band  she  sat  with  her  hands  clasped  in  his,  and  showed  no  signs  of  break- 
ing down.  The  President's  last  words  to  those  about  him  were : 

"  'Good-bye,  all ;  good-bye !  It  is  God's  way.  His  will  be  done ;  not 
ours/  and  then  he  said,  speaking  to  no  one,  apparently :  'Nearer,  my  God, 
to  thee,  e'en  though  it  be  a  cross,  is  my  constant  prayer.' 

"His  mind  wandered  considerably  at  the  last,  and  he  lay  scarcely 
breathing." 

When  Dr.  Mann  was  asked  who  was  in  the  room,  he  said : 

"All  of  the  President's  friends  went  in  and  bade  him  good-bye. 
Most  of  them  went  away  again,  but  some  staid. 

"Senator  Hanna  was  in  the  room  from  time  to  time,  and  the  members 
of  the  Cabinet  went  in.  Secretary  Root  went  in  several  times.  A  front 
bedroom  was  devoted  to  their  use.  Attorney  General  Knox  was  the  last 
of  the  members  of  the  Cabinet  to  arrive." 

At  three  minutes  after  1 1  there  came  another  brief  statement  from  Mr. 
Cortelyou  indicating  that  the  end  was  at  hand.  Mr.  Cortelyou  said  the 
President's  extremities  were  cold,  and  that  they  were  then  watching  for 
the  last  signs  of  life. 

Thomas  Scetchard  and  Colonel  Brown  left  the  house  at  1 1 105.  There 
was  no  change,  they  said. 

"Every  one  is  simply  waiting  for  the  end,"  said  Mr.  Scetchard.  "The 
President  is  conscious  at  times.  He  may  go  any  minute  or  he  may  last  an 
hour." 

Governor  Yates  of  Illinois  came  out  five  minutes  later.  "Dr.  Mc- 
Burney,"  he  said,  "has  informed  us  that  the  President  may  live  an  hour  or 
two,  but  probably  not  any  longer." 

Dr.  Roswell  Park,  who  came  out  of  the  house  at  1 1 145  o'clock,  said : 
"The  condition  of  the  President  is  practically  unchanged,  but  there  is 
nothing  by  which  to  indicate  how  long  the  vital  spark  might  last.  The 
President  may  live  five  minutes,  or  he  may  live  five  hours." 

DR.  JANEWAY  HURRIES  INTO  THE  HOUSE. 

Dr.  Janeway  arrived  at  n  145.  He  was  brought  from  the  station  in 
a  cab,  which  was  driven  at  full  speed.  The  horse  stumbled  from  exhaus- 
tion when  reaching  the  house.  The  doctor  jumped  out  before  the  cab 
came  to  a  stop  and  ran  up  the  block  to  the  house. 

Between  half-past  10  and  n  o'clock  the  repeated  assurances  of  each 
man  who  came  from  the  house  of  death  seemed  to  convince  those  who 
were  not  newspaper  men  that  there  was  no  use  in  staying  any  longer — 
that  the  President  could  not  possibly  live  until  morning.  At  half-past  1 1 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  83 

there  were  not  half  as  many  men  about  the  corner  as  there  had  been  an 
hour  before. 

At  the  same  time  the  crowds  waiting  in  Delaware  avenue  and  the 
other  closed  streets  ceased  pressing  on  the  police  lines.  They  realized  that 
it  was  over  and  went  home  with  their  sorrow.  The  few  who  had  staid 
left  when  Judge  Day  came  from  the  house,  half  an  hour  before  midnight, 
and  said  that  Mrs.  McKinley  had  been  told  that  her  husband  had  only  a 
few  minutes  more  to  live. 

HEART  COMPLICATION  WAS  UNEXPECTED. 

Judge  Day  added  that  the  physicians,  since  the  danger  from  peri- 
tonitis and  blood  poisoning  had  disappeared,  were  obliged  to  look  else- 
where for  an  explanation  of  his  sinking.  They  found  that  his  heart  was 
muscularly  weak,  and  the  weakness,  in  the  light  of  what  they  had  learned 
from  those  who  have  studied  the  President's  physique  for  a  long  time,  was 
probably  due  to  theuse  of  tobacco. 

The  announcement  of  the  death  to  the  members  of  the  Cabinet  was 
made  by  Webb  Hayes,  who  said : 

"It  is  all  over." 

Mrs.  McKinley  last  saw  her  husband  between  n  and  12.  At  that 
time  she  sat  by  the  bedside  holding  his  hand.  The  members  of  the  Cabinet 
were  admitted  to  the  sick-room  singly  at  that  time. 

The  actual  death  probably  occurred  about  2  o'clock,  it  being  under- 
stood that  Dr.  Rixey  delayed  the  announcement  momentarily  to  assure 
himself. 

The  announcement  of  the  news  to  those  waiting  below  was  postponed 
until  the  members  of  the  family  had  withdrawn.  Through  Secretary 
Cortelyou  the  waiting  newspaper  men  received  the  notification.  In  a  trice 
there  was  the  keenest  excitement  on  the  broad  avenue,  but  there  was  no 
semblance  of  disorder. 

When  the  news  was  imparted  to  those  down-stairs  a  great  sigh  of 
sorrow  went  up  from  the  strong  men  there  assembled.  The  members  of 
the  Cabinet,  Senators,  and  close  friends  remained  only  a  few  minutes. 
Then,  with  mournful  tread  and  bowed  heads,  they  came  out  into  the 
darkness  and  went  away.  There  was  not  one  among  them  with  dry 
eyes,  and  some  moaned  in  their  grief. 

Mrs.  McKinley  was  sleeping  when  the  end  came.  A  few  hours 
afterward  she  awoke  and  then,  knowing  the  worst,  was  more  resigned 
and  calmer  than  had  been  hoped  for.  Her  will  was  strong  although  her 
body  was  frail. 


84  WILLIAM    Me  KIN  LEY. 

PRESIDENT  ROOSEVELT'S  TRIP  TO  BUFFALO. 

Vice-President  Roosevelt  became  President  of  the  United  States  the 
moment  President  McKinley  died,  but  he  was  not  sworn  in  until  he 
reached  Buffalo  from  the  hunting  camp  where  he  was  when  the  news 
reached  him  that  the  President  was  dying.  He  was  notified  on  Friday 
night  that  the  end  was  near  at  hand,  and  at  once  left  the  camp  for  Buffalo, 
where  he  arrived  about  I  o'clock  the  following  day.  He  at  once  met  the 
various  members  of  the  Cabinet  who  had  been  staying  in  Buffalo  during 
the  week,  but  no  Cabinet  session  was  held. 

Colonel  Roosevelt  was  in  Vermont  on  a  hunting  trip  when  the  first 
news  of  the  shooting  reached  him,  and  at  once  hurried  to  Buffalo,  where 
he  remained  two  days.  At  the  end  of  that  time,  thinking  the  President 
out  of  danger,  being  so  assured  by  the  attending  physicians,  he  departed 
for  Northern  New  York  to  resume  his  outing  there.  He  was  much  agi- 
tated all  during  the  second  trip  to  Buffalo,  and  persistently  refused  to  see 
anyone. 

Tears  came  to  his  eyes  when,  on  Friday  night,  he  received  a  telegram 
saying  the  President  could  not  live,  and  earnestly  exclaimed,  "I  hope  to 
God  the  sad  news  is  not  true." 


CHAPTER  VI. 

POISONED  BULLET  THE  CAUSE  OF  PRESIDENT  MCKINLEY'S  DEATH — HE 
WAS  DOOMED  TO  DIE  FROM  THE  FIRST — RESULT  OF  THE  AUTOPSY — 
PRESIDENT  ROOSEVELT  SWORN  IN — His  PROCLAMATION — FUNERAL 
CEREMONIES  OF  THE  LAMENTED  CHIEF  MAGISTRATE — BODY  LYING 
IN  STATE  IN  CAPITOL — INTERMENT  AT  CANTON. 


President  McKinley's  death  was  the  direct  result  of  gangrene,  set  up 
by  the  bullet  which  entered  his  abdomen,  and  which  had  undoubtedly  been 
poisoned  by  the  assassin. 

An  autopsy  held  upon  the  body  in  the  afternoon  demonstrated  the 
fact  that  the  President,  at  no  time  after  he  was  shot,  had  the  slightest 
chance  of  recovery.  The  following  was  the  report  of  the  physicians  who 
conducted  the  post-mortem  examination,  the  latter  taking  three  hours : 

"The  bullet  which  struck  over  the  breast  bone  did  not  pass  through 
the  skin  and  did  little  harm.  The  other  bullet  passed  through  both  walls 
of  the  stomach  near  its  lower  border. 

"Both  holes  were  found  to  be  perfectly  closed  by  the  stitches,  but  the 
tissue  around  each  hole  had  become  gangrenous. 

"After  passing  through  the  stomach  the  bullet  passed  into  the  back 
walls  of  the  abdomen,  hitting  and  tearing  the  upper  end  of  the  kidney. 
This  portion  of  the  bullet  track  also  was  gangrenous,  the  gangrene  involv- 
ing the  pancreas.  The  bullet  has  not  yet  been  found. 

"There  was  no  sign  of  peritonitis  or  disease  of  other  organs.  The 
heart  walls  were  extremely  thin.  There  was  no  evidence  of  any  attempt 
at  repair  on  the  part  of  nature,  and  death  resulted  from  the  gangrene  which 
affected  the  stomach  around  the  bullet  wounds,  as  well  as  the  tissues 
around  the  further  course  of  the  bullet. 

85 


86  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

"Death  was  unavoidable  by  any  surgical  or  medical  treatment  and  was 
the  direct  result  of  the  bullet  wound. 

"HARVEY  D.  GAYLORD,  M.  D. 

"HERMAN  G.  MATZINGER,  M.  D. 

"P.  M.  RIXEY,  M.  D. 

"MATTHEW  D.  MANN,  M.  D. 

"HERMAN  MYNTER,  M.  D. 

"ROSWELL  PARK,  M.  D. 

"EUGENE  WASDIN,  M.  D. 

"CHARLES  G.  STOCKTON,  M.  D. 

"EDWARD  G.  JANEWAY,  M.  D. 

"W.  W.  JOHNSON,  M.  D. 

"W.  P.  KENDALL, 
"Surgeon  United  States  Army. 

"CHARLES  CARY,  M.  D. 

"EDWARD  L.  MUNSON, 
"Assistant  Surgeon  United  States  Army. 

"HERMANUS  L.  BAER,  M.  D." 

Aside  from  their  officially  signed  statements,  the  doctors  were  averse 
to  discussing  the  autopsy,  but  some  general  expressions  were  secured  on 
the  points  involved. 

THE  OPERATING  SURGEON  EXPLAINS  THE  CASE. 

Dr.  Matthew  D.  Mann,  the  surgeon  upon  whom  fell  the  responsibility 
of  operating  upon  the  President,  immediately  after  he  was  shot,  made  the 
following  explanation : 

"First  of  all,  there  was  never  any  contention  or  unseemly  discussion 
among  the  physicians  as  to  the  method  of  treatment  of  a  case  similar  to  the 
present  one  in  importance.  In  no  case  was  there  ever  a  better  under- 
standing as  to  what  should  be  done.  We  worked  together  as  one  man. 
There  were  honest  differences  of  opinion  among  us  sometimes  as  to  which 
was  the  better  mode  of  procedure  under  certain  conditions,  but  the  minori- 
ty always  were  convinced. 

"About  the  criticisms  that  were  made  as  to  the  insufficiency  of  the 
original  examination  and  the  failure  to  locate  the  bullet  at  the  time  of 
operation,  were  they  justified?" 

"I  think  the  report  made  today,"  Dr.  Mann  replied,  "is  a  sufficient 
answer  to  your  question.  It  shows  plainly  that  the  location  of  the  bullet 
had  nothing  to  do  with  the  final  outcome  of  the  case.  That  resulted  from 
gangrene,  which  appeared  in  the  path  of  the  bullet.  Even  our  efforts  to- 


\ 

WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  87 

day  to  locate  it,  as  stated  in  the  report,  were  unsuccessful.     I  believe  it 
went  into  the  muscle  at  the  small  of  the  back. 

"We  followed  the  hole  made  by  the  bullet  until  it  went  into  the  muscle. 
We  searched  one  and  a  half  hours  for  the  missile  of  death.  The  X-ray 
instrument  was  not  used,  as  the  appliances  were  not  handy.  This  serious 
damage  was  done  to  the  organs  through  which  it  passed — not  to  the  locali- 
ty where  it  now  rests." 

"Your  report  says  the  first  bullet,  striking  in  the  breast,  did  no  harm." 

"Yes,  that  is  correct.  That  bullet  evidently  struck  a  button  and  then 
shied  off  without  doing  any  damage.  Had  it  not  met  some  obstruction  it 
surely  would  have  killed  the  President  immediately.  Below  the  locality 
where  it  struck  the  flesh  was  quite  flabby  and  contused. 

"Today's  investigation  developed  the  fact  that  the  first  bullet  struck 
the  President  on  the  right  side  of  the  breast  bone  near  the  edge  and 
between  the  second  and  third  ribs.  In  our  original  examination  we  said 
it  was  to  the  left  of  the  breast  bone.  The  mistake  in  the  first  announce- 
ment was  due  to  the  hasty  examination  we  made  at  the  time  of  the  shoot- 
ing, when  the  question  was  not  so  much  as  to  the  exact  location  of  the 
wounds  as  to  that  of  getting  to  work  to  save  the  President's  life. 

"The  report  speaks  of  a  lack  of  evidence  of  repair  work  on  the  part  of 
nature.  Won't  you  explain  just  what  bearing  this  had  on  the  case  at 
issue  ?" 

SYSTEM  BADLY  RUN  DOWN. 

"By  that  statement  we  mean  that  the  general  system  of  the  patient 
failed  to  respond  to  the  demand  upon  it  for  a  revival  from  the  shock  suf- 
fered by  the  shooting.  It  was  due  probably  to  a  low  state  of  vitality; 
not  to  poor  health,  mind  you,  but  to  a  system  that  was  considerably  run 
down  and  needed  rest  and  recuperation." 

"The  report  says  the  heart  walls  were  extremely  thin.  Was  this 
condition  peculiar  to  the  President,  or  is  it  a  common  complaint?  Did 
the  use  of  smoking  tobacco  by  the  President  have  any  important  bearing 
on  the  case?" 

"A  man  whose  heart  walls  are  thin  is  usually  one  who  leads  a  seden- 
tary life  and  whose  heart  gets  no  great  amount  of  exercise.  This  organ, 
like  any  other,  requires  active  exercise  to  keep  it  in  proper  condition. 

"No,  I  don't  think  the  smoking  habit  affected  the  President's  heart 
to  the  extent  of  making  it  figure  in  the  result  of  his  case..  He  was  not  a 
great  smoker,  and  at  one  time  we  even  considered  the  propriety  of  per- 
mitting him  to  have  a  cigar." 

"It  has  been  suggested,  Dr.  Mann,  that  the  bullet  which  went  into 


88  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

the  President's  abdomen  was  poisoned,  and  that  this  was  what  caused 
death.    Do  you  think  there  is  any  basis  for  the  reports  ?"  was  asked. 

"The  authorities  and  the  physicians  have  received  a  number  of  tele- 
grams and  letters  alleging  that  the  bullet  was  poisoned,"  Dr.  Mann  replied. 
"I  don't  know  whether  it  was  or  not.  A  chemical  or  a  bacteriological 
examination  of  the  remaining  bullets  in  the  pistol  will  be  necessary  to 
determine  that. 

"All  the  tissues  through  which  the  bullet  passed  were  dead.  This  is 
remarkable,  indeed.  The  area  of  the  dead  flesh  in  the  stomach  was  per- 
haps so  great  as  a  silver  dollar  in  circumference.  .Dr.  Wasdin,  the  Marine 
Hospital  expert,  was  strongly  inclined  to  the  opinion  that  the  bullet  had 
been  poisoned. 

"Just  a  word  in  conclusion,"  said  Dr.  Mann.  "I  think  in  justice  to 
the  other  physicians  and  myself  something  should  be  said  about  the  bul- 
letins issued  every  day.  We  aimed  to  make  them  as  plain  as  possible 
and  to  state  the  facts  simply.  They  were  given  as  hour  to  hour  talks  of 
the  President's  condition,  containing  no  opinions  nor  making  any  prog- 
nostications— simply  a  narration  of  conditions  made  with  a  desire  to  keep 
the  public  informed  from  day  to  day  of  the  actual  state  of  affairs." 

Another  one  of  the  physicians  said : 

"So  far  as  the  treatment  of  the  case  was  concerned,  both  from  a 
surgical  and  a  medical  standpoint,  it  was  successful.  The  abdominal 
wound  was  fatal  from  the  start.  The  physicians  should  feel  relieved  over 
the  result  of  the  autopsy,  because  it  revealed  the  fact  that  the  abdominal 
wound  was  necessarily  fatal,  and  that  nothing  that  was  done  or  could  be 
done  would  more  than  delay  the  inevitable  result." 

DECLARED  THE  BULLETS  WERE  POISONED. 

Dr.  Eugene  Wasdin,  one  of  the  physicians,  declared  it  his  belief  that 
the  bullets  fired  by  the  assassin  Czolgosz  were  poisoned  and  that  the  gan- 
grenous condition  of  the  wounds  resulted  from  this  poison.  Other  sur- 
geons present  at  the  autopsy  did  not  concur,  laughing  at  the  theory  of  poi- 
soned bullets. 

Stories  have  been  told  of  anarchists'  bullets  covered  with  poison,  and 
the  anarchist  society  was  supposed  to  have  the  recipes  for  making  these 
bullet  poisons. 

It  was  possible  that  Czolgosz  used  a  prepared  bullet,  but  many  be- 
lieved that  he  did  not  have  enough  chemical  knowledge  to  do  this,  and  the 
doctors  who  were  present  at  the  operation  said  the  gangrene  on  the  path 
of  the  bullet  could  have  been  produced  by  dirty,  oily,  leaden  substances 
coming  into  contact  with  exposed  animal  tissue. 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  89 

The  gangrene  found  in  the  path  of  the  bullet  was  held  to  be  strong 
evidence  in  support  of  this  view  by  Dr.  Wasdin.  Dr.  Wasdin  is  consid- 
ered an  expert  of  high  standing  in  the  Marine  Hospital  service. 

Dr.  Wasdin  was  an  expert  in  yellow  fever  cases  and  familiar  with  the 
action  of  poisons  in  the  human  body.  Dr.  Wasdin's  opinion  during  the 
progress  of  the  case  was  much  valued  by  the  other  physicians  and  his 
theory  as  to  the  poisonous  matter  upon  the  bullet  are  herewith  given : 

"The  breast  bone  wound  showed  a  big  impact.  Still  the  area  of 
infiltration  of  subcutaneous  tissues  was  entirely  too  extensive  to  be  account- 
ede  for  from  contusion  or  the  force  of  the  bullet.  The  subcutaneous  tis- 
sues were  in  a  partly  gangrenous  condition.  The  bullet  that  went  into 
the  abdomen  and  penetrated  the  stomach  also  was  followed  by  extensive 
necrosis  of  tissue  or  gangrene  wherever  it  passed. 

"The  skin  wound  on  the  point  of  entrance  was  livid  gangrenous, 
and  this  process  extended  to  the  entire  line  of  invasion  made  by  the  sur- 
geons through  the  abdominal  wall.  The  point  of  entrance  into  the 
stomach  was  necrotic,  or  gangrenous.  The  sutures  made  by  the  surgeons 
were  still  intact  at  the  autopsy,  but  the  lines  of  sutures  were  surrounded 
by  a  necrotic  area  through  the  entire  thickness  of  the  stomach  wall  and 
extending  on  all  sides  about  one  and  one-half  to  two  inches.  The  same 
is  true  of  the  wounds  of  exit  of  the  bullet  on  the  posterior  wall  of  the 
stomach,  which  was  also  still  closed  by  sutures  in  the  center  of  an  exten- 
sive area  of  necrosis. 

"The  further  passage  of  the  bullet  through  the  soft  tissues  of  the 
back,  where  it  became  imbedded,  was  also  surrounded  by  necrotic  tissue. 

"These  different  necrotic  areas  all  had  the  same  appearance  as  to  time 
of  duration — that  is,  they  were  due  to  the  same  influence  acting  about 
the  same  time.  All  these  conditions  led  me  to  believe  that  there  has  been 
an  influence  exerted  by  the  passing  bullet  through  the  tissues  entirely 
dissimilar  to  that  exerted  by  an  ordinary  missile.  In  this  case  there  was 
not  the  appearance  of  a  single  effort  at  natural  repair  at  any  point  along 
the  track  of  the  ball. 

ORGANIC  POISON  ON  BULLET. 

"The  influence  I  speak  of  might  be  either  bacterial — the  microbe  being 
carried  in  on  the  bullet  and  giving  rise  to  a  growth  of  bacteria  in  the 
abdominal  cavity,  with  resulting  peritonitis  and  possible  abscess,  or,  in  the 
case  of  some  rare  germs,  to  necrosis  of  tissue.  From  bacteriological 
observations  made  thus  far  this  does  not  seem  to  be  the  case. 


go  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

"There  was  no  peritonitis  or  pus  formation  at  any  point  within  the 
abdominal  cavity,  only  the  gangrenous  influence  from  the  bullet,  which, 
from  these  facts,  I  believe  to  have  been  due  to  some  possible  organic  poison 
placed  on  the  bullet. 

"Further  bacteriological  tests  are  in  process,  and  possibly  a  germ 
capable  of  giving  rise  to  this  gangrenous  condition  of  tissues  may  be 
found.  But  the  presence  of  gangrene  only  at  points  of  the  passage  of  the 
bullet  and  the  length  of  time — seven  days — required  for  the  necrotic  or 
gangrenous  changes  rather  convince  me  that  it  is  not  a  bacterial  influence, 
but  must  be  due  to  some  organic  poison. 

"Tests  were  made  of  gangrenous  material  when  the  stitches  in  the 
President's  wound  were  removed  and  the  wound  redressed.  They  did  not 
show  the  presence  of  gangrene  producing  organisms,  leading  inferentially 
to  the  opinion  that  the  bullet  was  coated  with  some  poisonous  substance." 

Dr.  Roswell  Park  said :  "I  do  not  think  that  the  bullet  was  poisoned. 
That  hypothesis  is  not  workable.  I  fail  to  subscribe  to  the  theory  that  the 
bullet  was  poisoned  for  the  simple  reason  that  I  have  often  seen  bullet 
wounds  similar  to  those  sustained  by  the  President,  and  I  have  seen  condi- 
tions similar  to  those  which  resulted  in  the  President's  death  in  cases  where 
no  question  of  'poisoned  bullets'  was  raised." 

THEODORE  ROOSEVELT  SWORN  IN. 

Theodore  Roosevelt,  Vice-President  of  the  United  States  when  Presi- 
dent McKinley  was  shot,  was  sworn  in  as  President  shortly  after  his 
arrival  at  Buffalo  on  Saturday  afternoon.  He  first  went  to  the  Milburn 
residence,  where  the  dead  body  of  President  McKinley  was  lying,  and 
going  direct  to  the  room  where  Mrs.  McKinley  was,  said  a  few  words 
of  sympathy  and  condolence.  His  eyes  were  filled  with  tears  as  he  ex- 
pressed his  sorrow  at  her  great  calamity,  and  with  becoming  tact  disap- 
peared before  the  scene  became  more  trying.  As  soon  as  Colonel  Roose- 
velt had  left  Mrs.  McKinley  he  hastened  again  to  his  carriage  and,  still 
accompanied  by  his  police  bodyguard,  drove  rapidly  to  the  residence  of  Mr. 
Ansley  Wilcox,  where  he  was  a  guest. 

The  carriage  rolled  through  a  long  lane  of  people  who  were  anxious 
to  see  the  new  President. 

Soon  after  arrived  the  carriages  containing  the  members  of  the  Cab- 
inet. Colonel  Roosevelt  had  preceded  them  into  the  house,  and  as  they 
stepped  under  the  folds  of  the  great  American  flag  already  draped  with 
black  he  greeted  each  of  them  without  ceremony  and  ushered  them  into 
the  parlor. 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  91 

The  official  witnesses  were  the  five  members  of  the  Cabinet  who  were 
in  town — Secretary  Root,  Secretary  Long,  Postmaster  General  Smith,  Sec- 
retary Wilson,  and  Attorney  General  Knox. 

Besides  them,  however,  were  Senator  Depew,  John  D.  Milburn, 
George  P.  Keating,  William  Jefferson,  R.  C.  Scatchard,  Dr.  C.  E.  Stock- 
ton, one  of  the  physicians  who  attended  President  McKinley;  Secretary 
Cortelyou,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Mann,  Dr.  Park,  George  S.  Metcalf,  George 
Urban,  Colonel  Bingham,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Carlton  Sprague,  Mrs.  Milburn, 
Mr.  Loeb,  secretary  to  the  Vice-President ;  W.  E.  Roosevelt,  his  nephew, 
and,  of  course,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ansley  Wilcox,  with  Miss  Wilcox. 

The  owner  of  the  house  announced  that  in  accordance  with  the 
decision  of  the  Cabinet  the  only  other  persons  who  would  be  admitted 
would  be  the  representatives  of  three  press  associations.  This  restriction 
caught  the  ear  of  the  Vice-President  and  he  promptly  announced  that  all 
the  correspondents  who  were  gathered  on  the  porch  and  numbering  no 
small  total  were  to  be  admitted  as  welcomed  guests. 

THE  CEREMONY  A  SIMPLE  AND  IMPRESSIVE  ONE. 

The  ceremony  of  administering  the  oath,  while  extremely  brief  and 
simple,  was  undeniably  impressive.  After  a  preliminary  consultation, 
Secretary  Root,  who  was  the  ranking  member  of  the  Cabinet  on  account 
of  the  absence  of  Secretaries  Hay  and  Gage,  announced  in  a  voice  which 
betrayed  the  deep  emotion  he  felt,  that  the  members  of  the  Cabinet  believed 
it  to  be  for  the  interest  of  the  Government  that  he  should  take  the  oath  of 
office  before  doing  anything  else. 

The  explanation  did  not  go  into  details  at  all,  but  it  was  quite  well 
understood  that  it  referred  to  the  fact  that  if  anything  should  happen  to 
Mr.  Roosevelt  before  he  had  been  sworn  in  as  President  it  might  cast  a 
cloud  upon  the  title  of  Secretary  Hay,  who,  in  such  an  event,  would  become 
President  under  the  Presidential  succession  law. 

There  was  no  one  in  the  whole  assembly  whose  nerves  were  not 
strained  to  the  breaking  point  by  the  tragical  events  of  the  preceding 
twenty-four  hours,  and  the  Secretary  of  War  therefore  played  upon  a 
tense  chord  when  he  said  : 

"Mr.  Vice-President,  I  am  requested  by  all  the  members  of  the  Cab- 
inet who  are  present  in  Buffalo,  including  all  but  two  of  the  Cabinet,  to 
request  that  for  reasons  of  weight  affecting  the  administration  of  the  Gov- 
ernment you  proceed  without  delay  to  take  the  oath  of  office  of  President 
of  the  United  States." 


92  WILLIAM    McKINLEV. 

As  the  Secretary  of  War  concluded  there  was  a  little  rustle  among 
the  people  present  which  showed  the  grave  character  of  the  occasion. 

Colonel  Roosevelt,  in  a  rather  strained  voice,  but  clearly  and  with 
grave  decision  of  manner,  said  briefly : 

"Mr.  Secretary,  I  shall  take  the  oath  in  accordance  with  the  request 
of  the  members  of  the  Cabinet,  and  in  this  hour  of  deep  distress  and 
national  bereavemenet  I  wish  to  state  that  it  shall  be  my  concern  to  con- 
tinue absolutely  unbroken  the  policy  of  President  McKinley  for  the  peace, 
prosperity  and  the  honor  of  our  beloved  country." 

He  had  scarcely  concluded  these  words  when  he  nodded  to  Judge 
Hazel  of  the  United  States  District  Court,  who  had  been  selected  to  admin- 
ister the  oath  and  who  stepped  forward  for  that  purpose.  His  words 
were  simple,  but  were  enunciated  with  a  sharp  distinctness  which  im- 
pressed every  one  of  the  spectators  with  the  dramatic  value  of  the  whole 
proceedings. 

"Theodore  Roosevelt,  hold  up  your  right  hand." 

The  hand  was  promptly  raised  to  the  shoulder  of  the  Vice-President 
with  the  characteristic  gesture  of  the  man  accustomed  to  the  use  of  the 
rifle  and  the  shotgun. 

Thereupon  the  Judge  proceeded  to  administer  the  constitutional  oath, 
and  as  he  repeatetd  the  words  they  were  solemnly  echoed  back  by  Colonel 
Rooseveelt,  as  follows : 

"I  do  solemnly  swear  that  I  will  faithfully  execute  the  office  of  Presi- 
dent of  the  Unitetd  States,  and  will  to  the  best  of  my  ability  preserve, 
protect,  and  defend  the  constitution  of  the  United  States." 

As  the  repetition  of  the  oath  was  concluded  Theodore  Roosevelt 
became  by  this  simple  act  vested  with  full  power  as  President  of  the 
United  States  of  America. 

There  was  a  solemn  moment  of  deep  pause  when  each  one  seemed 
to  feel  that  he  had  been  made  a  spectator  of  the  creation  of  a  ruler  of  men. 

The  pause,  however,  was  extremely  brief,  and  those  present  embraced 
the  opportunity  to  extend  their  congratulations  to  their  new  President. 

President  Roosevelt  accepted  them  all  with  becoming  dignity,  but 
every  now  and  then  there  was  a  delicious  touch  of  the  charm  and  cordial 
democracy  which  have  made  him  so  many  friends. 

The  day  was  too  great  a  one,  however,  and  the  memory  of  the  man 
who  had  passed  away  in  the  early  hours  of  the  same  day  but  a  mile  or  so 
up  the  avenue  was  much  too  distinct  to  permit  of  any  waste  of  time  in  the 
mere  matter  of  congratulations. 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  93 

So,  then,  President  Roosevelt,  speaking  with  a  fluent  and  perfectly 
natural  authority,  as  it  seemed,  said  to  the  assembled  company :  "Ladies 
and  Gentlemen :  I  desire  the  members  of  the  Cabinet  to  remain.  I  have 
matters  of  importance  to  discuss  with  them." 

This  was  more  than  a  hint — it  amounted  to  a  kingly  nod — and  so 
the  roomful  of  deeply  impressed  spectators  left  the  house  without  hesita- 
tion, and  for  the  first  time  President  Roosevelt  was  alone  with  his  con- 
stitutional advisers. 

They  were  still  members  of  the  Cabinet,  because  they  held  until  their 
successors  were  appointed,  and  so  President  Roosevelt  found  himself  at 
the  head  of  a  body  of  distinguished  men,  sworn  with  him  to  protect  and 
defend  the  constitution  of  the  United  States. 

The  new  President  of  the  United  States  therefore  held  his  first 
Cabinet  meeting  in  the  house  of  his  old  friend  and  associate,  Ansley 
Wilcox 

PRESIDENT  ROOSEVELT'S  FIRST  PROCLAMATION. 

The  first  act  of  the  new  President  was  to  issue  the  following  proclama- 
tion to  the  people  of  the  United  States : 

BY  THE  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES: 
A  PROCLAMATION. 

A  terrible  bereavement  has  befallen  our  people.  The  President  of  the 
United  States  has  been  struck  down ;  a  crime  committed  not  only  against 
the  Chief  Magistrate,  but  against  every  law-abiding  and  liberty-loving 
citizen. 

President  McKinley  crowned  a  life  of  largest  love  for  his  fellow-men, 
of  most  earnest  endeavor  for  their  welfare,  by  a  death  of  Christian  forti- 
tude ;  and  both  the  way  in  which  he  lived  his  life  and  the  way  in  which, 
in  the  supreme  hour  of  trial,  he  met  his  death,  will  remain  forever  a 
precious  heritage  of  our  people. 

It  is  meet  that  we,  as  a  nation,  express  our  abiding  love  and  reverence 
for  his  life,  our  deep  sorrow  for  his  untimely  death. 

Now,  therefore,  I,  Theodore  Roosevelt,  President  of  the  United 
States  of  America,  do  appoint  Thursday  next,  Sept.  19,  the  day  on  which 
the  body  of  the  dead  President  will  be  laid  in  its  last  earthly  resting  place, 
as  a  day  of  mourning  and  prayer  throughout  the  United  States. 

I  earnestly  recommend  all  the  people  to  assemble  on  that  day  in  their 
respective  places  of  divine  worship,  there  to  bow  down  in  submission  to 
the  will  of  Almighty  God,  and  to  pay  out  of  full  hearts  their  homage  of 


94  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

love  and  reverence  to  the  great  and  good  President  whose  death  has 
smitten  the  nation  with  bitter  grief. 

In  witness  whereof  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  caused  the  seal 
of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

Done  at  the  City  of  Washington,  the  I4th  day  of  September,  A.  D. 
one  thousand  nine  hundred  and  one,  and  of  the  independence  of  the 
United  States  the  one  hundred  and  twenty-sixth. 

[SEAL.]  THEODORE  ROOSEVELT. 

By  the  President:    JOHN  HAY,  Secretary  of  State. 

PRESIDENT  ROOSEVELT  REFUSES  ESCORT. 

Befort  starting  for  the  Wilcox  residence  a  squadron  of  cavalry  had 
been  drawn  up  as  an  escort.  Colonel  Roosevelt  was  plainly  displeased,  and 
he  turned  back  quickly  and  spoke  to  Mr.  Wilcox  with  a  decided  frown 
of  authority.  The  reason  of  all  this  was  apparent  a  few  moments  later 
when  Mr.  Wilcox  hastened  to  the  street  and  began  a  rapid  explanation 
with  the  Captain  of  the  escort.  ^ 

"The  Vice-President  is  not  a  soldier  now,"  said  Mr.  Wilcox,  "and 
he  will  not  consent  to  be  followed  by  a  military  escort.  He  did  not  ask 
for  such  an  escort,  and  he  directs  you  to  take  your  men  away." 

The  Captain  of  the  escort,  who  were  soldiers  of  the  signal  corps, 
undertook  to  argue  the  matter,  and  declared  that  the  new  President  was 
fully  entitled  to  the  protection  of  the  military  authorities,  the  catastrophe 
which  had  deprived  the  country  of  one  President  being  cited  as  an  ample 
reason  for  affording  unusual  protection  to  another.  The  Captain  insisted 
on  his  duty  in  the  matter  and  pleaded  the  orders  he  had  received  from 
his  superior  officer. 

Mr.  Wilcox  was  a  private  citizen,  and  was  getting  the  worst  of  the 
argument,  when  Colonel  Roosevelt  took  a  hand  and  settled  the  matter 
with  characteristic  abruptness. 

"The  Vice-President  needs  no  protection  in  the  streets  of  an  Ameri- 
can city  from  any  military  body,"  exclaimed  Colonel  Roosevelt. 

"Just  say  to  your  commanding  officer  that  I  have  revoked  your  orders. 
I  do  not  want  your  men  behind  me,  and  I  positively  decline  your  escort." 

The  Vice-President  had  his  way  so  far  as  military  escort  was  con- 
cerned, but  he  could  not  shake  off  the  police.  A  mounted  man  on  each 
side  accompanied  the  carriage  up  Delaware  avenue,  while  in  the  open 
carriage  which  followed  Colonel  Roosevelt  were  three  men  who  were 
recognized  at  intervals  along  the  road  as  Buffalo  detectives. 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  95 

FORMAL  OBSEQUIES  OF  PRESIDENT  McKiNLEY. 

On  Sunday  morning-  the  remains  of  the  late  President  were  laid  in 
a  magnificent  casket,  and  at  n  o'clock  services  were  held  in  the  large 
parlor  of  the  Milburn  residence.  These  were  extremely  simple,  consisting 
of  a  reading  from  the  Scriptures  and  a  fervent  prayer  by  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Locke,  the  son  of  the  former  pastor  of  the  President  in  Canton.  At  this 
time  the  family  and  those  who  formed  the  intimate  personal  associates  of 
the  dead  President  had  their  own  opportunity  to  say  their  good-by, 
guarded  from  the  eyes  of  the  multitude. 

The  casket,  which  contained  the  remains  of  the  martyred  President, 
was  of  red  cedar,  handsomely  carved,  and  covered  with  the  finest  black 
broadcloth.  The  interior  was  first  lined  with  copper,  over  which  was  a 
full  tufted  satin  covering.  A  French  bevel  plate  glass  ran  the  length  of 
the  top  of  the.  casket.  The  inscription  on  the  casket  was  as  follows : 

WILLIAM  M'KINLEY, 
Born  Jan.  29,  1843. 
Died  Sept.  14,  1901. 

The  outside  case  was  made  of  red  cedar  finely  finished.  The  corners 
were  capped  with  polished  copper,  and  the  handles  were  of  the  same  ma- 
terial. On  the  top  of  the  case  was  a  copper  plate  bearing  a  duplicate  of 
the  inscription  on  the  casket. 

The  military  pall-bearers  were  sergeants  of  the  army  post  at  Buffalo, 
marines  from  the  Pan-American  Exposition,  and  under  officers  of  the 
United  States  coast  defense  at  Buffalo. 

A  hour  later,  at  noon,  the  casket  was  removed,  under  military  escort, 
to  the  City  Hall  of  Buffalo,  where"  it  lay  in  state  during  the  day,  guarded 
by  a  detachment  of  New  York  National  Guards.  The  public  was  admitted 
to  the  City  Hall  from  noon  until  5  p.  m.,  a  line  being  formed  for  the 
purpose  of  allowing  the  casket  to  be  viewed.  It  remained  at  the  City  Hall 
until  Monday  morning,  and  was  escorted  thence  to  the  train  which  con- 
veyed the  funeral  party  to  Washington. 

President  Roosevelt  was  at  the  City  Hall  for  a  time,  and  was  much 
affected.  The  funeral  train  left  Buffalo  on  Monday  morning  at  8:30 
o'clock  and  arrived  in  Washington  at  8:45  o'clock  that  night.  The 
removal  of  the  casket  from  the  City  Hall  to  the  railroad  station  at  Buffalo 
was  the  occasion  of  a  stately  military  demonstration,  all  available  troops 
being  in  line. 

The  funeral  train  was  necessarily  an  official  transport  of  the  body  of 
the  late  Chief  Executive  of  the  nation.  The  party,  therefore,  was  chiefly 


96  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

official.  Mrs.  McKinley  and  the  members  of  the  family  had,  of  course, 
a  secluded  place  upon  the  train.  President  Roosevelt,  the  members 
of  the  Cabinet,  Controller  Dawes,  and  other  officials  were  on  board; 
Senators  Hanna,  Fairbanks,  Burrows,  and  others  who  were  particularly 
intimate  with  President  McKinley;  the  official  committees  of  Congress, 
nominated  by  the  Speaker  of  the  House  and  the  President  pro  tempore  of 
the  Senate ;  the  military  and  other  guards ;  and  a  few  intimate  personal 
and  political  friends  of  the  President  in  addition  to  a  special  committee 
representing  the  Buffalo  Exposition,  whose  guest  the  Executive  was  when 
he  was  shot ;  and  a  committee  representing  the  City  of  Buffalo,  where  the 
President  breathed  his  last. 

In  spite  of  all  pleadings,  prayers  and  requests,  the  funeral  train  made 
no  stops  between  Buffalo  and  Washington,  but  it  was  run  slowly  through 
all  the  principal  towns  along  the  route.  The  cars  were  simply  and  appro- 
priately draped,  and  the  muffled  bell  of  the  engine  was  rung  almost  con- 
stantly throughout  the  journey. 

The  trip  throughout  was  a  most  solemn  and  impressive  one.  At 
every  city,  town,  village  and  hamlet  the  people  thronged  the  railroad  tracks 
and  stood  uncovered  while  the  train  passed  by.  Emblems  of  mourning 
in  the  greatest  profusion  were  to  be  seen  everywhere. 

ARRIVAL  OF  THE  REMAINS  AT  WASHINGTON. 

Upon  the  arrival  of  the  funeral  train  at  Washington  the  remains  were 
met  at  the  railroad  station  by  an  escort  composed  of  troops  and  carried  to 
the  White  House,  where  they  remained  all  night  in  the  East  Room  of 
that  historic  edifice.  There  was  no  particular  attempt  at  display  upon  this 
occasion,  but  the  presence  of  the  military  and  mounted  police,  combined 
with  the  necessary  illuminations  along  the  route — up  Pennsylvania  avenue 
— to  make  the  transport  from  the  station  to  the  White  House  something 
in  the  nature  of  a  spectacular  tribute.  The  great  broad  avenue  was 
thronged  with  spectators,  this  adding  to  the  solemnity  of  the  scene. 

Mrs.  McKinley  was  very  anxious  that  the  body  lie  in  state  at  the 
White  House,  for  she  and  the  President  both  loved  it  as  a  place  of  resi- 
dence, but  there  being  more  room  in  the  Capitol,  thus  affording  greater 
opportunity  for  the  people  to  pass  in  and  out  while  the  casket  was  open, 
she  finally  acceded  to  the  wishes  of  those  having  the  funeral  arrangements 
in  charge. 

Brief  services  were  held  in  the  East  Room  at  the  White  House,  these 
being  under  the  care  and  supervision  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Frank  M.  Bristol, 
pastor  of  the  Metropolitan  Church  at  Washington.  This  was  the  church 
President  and  Mrs.  McKinley  always  attended. 


The  Birthplace  of  William  McKinley  at  Niles.  Ohio 


The  Residence  of  John  G.  Milburn.  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 
The  House  in  whlcK  President  McKinley  Died 


WILLIAM    M  c  KIN  LEY.  101 

All  the  officials  in  Washington  concurred  in  the  belief  that  the  only 
proper  course  to  pursue  was  to  have  a  state  funeral.  The  decision  of 
the  members  of  the  Cabinet  at  Buffalo,  therefore,  received  the  indorsement 
of  every  one  at  the  National  Capital.  People  from  all  sections  of  the 
country  were  in  Washington  to  witness  the  ceremonies.  It  was  natural 
that  Mrs.  McKinley  should  have  desired  a  more  simple  form  of  ceremony 
than  this,  but  as  the  late  President  was  the  head  of  the  Nation,  and  not 
a  private  individual,  she  forebore  her  wishes  and  agreed  to  the  arrange- 
ments officially  made.  She  had  her  own  way,  however,  in  regard  to  the 
privacy  of  the  funeral  at  Canton,  it  being  as  much  of  a  simple  ceremony 
as  it  was  possible  to  make  it. 

On  Tuesday  morning,  at  9  o'clock,  the  remains  of  the  martyr  Presi- 
dent were  removed  from  the  White  House  to  the  great  marble  Capitol  on 
the  hill  with  every  conceivable  pomp  and  circumstance.  The  route  selected 
for  the  passage  of  the  funeral  column  was  down  that  broad,  historic  and 
magnificent  avenue,  upon  which  so  many  events  connected  with  the 
Nation's  life  have  been  enacted.  The  body  lay  in  state  in  the  Capitol  until 
that  evening  at  7:30  o'clock.  Then  all  that  was  mortal  of  William 
McKinley  was  tenderly  borne  to  the  railroad  station  by  an  escort  which 
was  made  up  of  distinguished  men  from  every  walk  in  life,  including 
statesmen,  soldiers  and  sailors,  and  followed  by  sorrowing  friends. 

Upon  arriving  at  the  station  the  funeral  procession  was  dismissed  and 
a  distinguished  escort,  consisting  of  the  highest  officers  of  the  Army  and 
Navy,  accompanied  the  body  to  its  last  resting  place  at  the  modest  home 
of  the  departed  President  in  the  interior  Ohio  city. 

The  day  following  the  death  of  President  McKinley  at  Buffalo  orders 
were  issued  from  the  War  Department  for  the  assembling  of  troops  at 
Washington  to  participate  in  the  funeral  procession.  The  regular  military 
force  thus  gathered  consisted  of  men  representing  all  branches  of  the 
service — coast  artillery  from  Fortress  Monroe,  coast  artillery  from  Fort 
Washington,  engineers  from  Willet's  Point,  cavalry  from  Fort  Meyer,  and 
artillerymen  from  Washington  Barracks. 

In  addition  to  these  there  was  a  Navy  column,  consisting  of  officers, 
bluejackets  and  marines.  Admiral  Dewey  and  other  distinguished  officers 
of  the  United  States  Navy  were  also  present. 

The  regiments  of  the  National  Guard  of  the  District  of  Columbia 
were  in  line  with  the  regular  contingents,  and  the  entire  military  force 
was  under  command  of  Major  General  John  R.  Brooke,  U.  S.  A.  Lieu- 
tenant General  Nelson  A.  Miles,  commanding  the  United  States  Army, 


102  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

accompanied  the  remains  to  Canton,  joining  the  funeral  party  at  Harris- 
burg. 

The  body  of  President  McKinley  was  laid  in  state  under  the  magnifi- 
cent dome  of  the  Capitol,  where  the  remains  of  Presidents  Lincoln  and 
Garfield  were  also  placed.  Under  this  dome,  the  finest  in  the  world,  the 
people  came  by  unnumbered  thousands  to  pay  their  last  tribute  of  respect 
and  affection,  passing  by  the  casket  as  it  reposed  upon  a  classic  catafalque. 

A  larger  assemblage  was  never  seen  at  the  National  Capital,  and  the 
cortege  from  the  White  House  to  the  halls  of  legislation  passed  down 
Pennsylvania  Avenue  between  two  dense  walls  of  living  humanity. 

On  Tuesday  morning  at  10  o'clock  semi-private  funeral  services  were 
held  at  the  Capitol,  only  those  having  tickets  of  admission  being  admitted. 
Rev.  Henry  R.  Naylor  delivered  the  prayer,  and  Bishop  Edward  G.  An- 
drews made  the  address.  Ex-President  Cleveland  was  among  those 
present. 

At  7 130  o'clock  the  remains  were  taken  from  the  Capitol  to  the  rail- 
road station,  escorted  by  troops  and  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic  and 
the  Order  of  the  Loyal  Legion,  the  late  President  being  a  member  of  both 
orders.  At  8  o'clock  the  funeral  train  left  for  Canton,  arriving  there  the 
following  day  at  noon. 

Members  of  the  Cabinet,  Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  members  of  the  Diplomatic  Corps  and  other  distinguished  persons 
took  another  special  train  for  the  Ohio  city,  arriving  there  about  the  same 
time  as  the  funeral  train. 

When  the  remains  arrived  at  Canton  they  were  conveyed  to  the 
cottage  which  had  for  so  many  years  been  the  home  of  the  late  Chief 
Magistrate,  the  cortege  consisting  of  nearly  all  the  townspeople  and 
friends  from  other  parts  of  the  State  of  Ohio.  Funeral  services  were  held 
at  the  house,  and  on  Thursday  the  body  of  the  beloved  President  was  laid 
to  rest  in  the  beautiful  cemetery  where  his  two  children  were  buried  years 
before. 

A  death  mask  was  made  at  Washington  by  a  Washington  artist, 
Garet.  All  the  President's  relatives  and  friends  agreed  that  it  was  desir- 
able that  the  features  of  the  martyred  President  should  be  preserved  for 
the  sake  of  history. 

After  the  President's  death  telegrams  and  messages  of  condolence 
and  sympathy  from  all  over  the  world  arrived  by  the  thousand  at  Buffalo, 
Washington  and  Canton. 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  103 

ROOSEVELT  RETAINS  McKiNLEY  CABINET. 

The  people  were  prepared  to  be  surprised  when  Theodore  Roosevelt 
became  President,  but  they  were  astonished,  nevertheless,  when  he  an- 
nounced his  intention  of  retaining  all  the  members  of  President  McKin- 
ley's  Cabinet. 

When  on  the  day  President  McKinley  died  the  new  President  invited 
them  to  hold  their  present  posts  it  was  "for  a  few  months,"  and  this 
invitation  all  the  members  of  the  Cabinet  construed  as  meaning  that  their 
services  were  wanted  only  to  carry  the  Government  over  till  Mr.  Roose- 
velt could  find  new  men  to  his  liking.  This  duty  they  were,  of  course, 
willing  to  perform,  but  save  in  the  cases  of  two  or  three  of  them  they  had 
begun  to  count  upon  nothing  else  than  a  retirement  to  private  life  during 
the  coming  fortnight  or  month. 

The  following  Monday,  however,  President  Roosevelt  took  pains  to 
place  the  matter  in  a  new  light.  He  had  apparently  been  reflecting  upon 
the  situation,  and  was  not  wholly  satisfied  with  it. 

Somewhat  to  the  surprise  of  the  six  members  of  the  Cabinet  who 
were  on  the  funeral  train,  en  route  to  Washington,  President  Roosevelt 
called  them  into  his  private  compartment  at  3  o'clock  in  the  afternoon 
and  said  to  them  that  he  wanted  every  one  of  them  to  consider  himself 
invited  to  become  a  member  of  the  new  Cabinet. 

"I  not  only  want  you  to  stay  with  me,"  said  the  President  to  them, 
"but  I  want  you  to  consider  that  I  am  selecting  you  as  my  choice.  You 
are  asked  not  merely  to  fill  out  a  term,  but  to  be  my  chosen  councilors. 
I  wish  to  have  the  matter  regarded  in  this  light.  There  are  vacancies  in 
the  Cabinet  post,  and  I  choose  all  you  gentlemen  to  fill  them.  I  will 
appoint  you  anew." 

As  soon  as  they  had  recovered  from  their  astonishment  the  six 
members  of  the  Cabinet  held  a  brief  consultation,  and  at  the  end  of  it  all 
of  them  accepted  the  invitation  and  pledged  themselves  to  their  new  chief. 
Upon  his  arrival  in  Washington  the  President  summoned  Secretary  of 
State  Hay  and  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  Gage  and  secured  their  promises 
to  remain  with  the  new  administration. 


CHAPTER  VII. 
i  . 

CZOLGOSZ  A  FOLLOWER  OF  EMMA  GOLDMAN,  THE  HIGH  PRIESTESS  OF 
ANARCHY  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES — SHE  Is  ARRESTED  IN  CHICAGO, 
WITH  OTHERS,  ON  THE  CHARGE  OF  CONSPIRING  TO  KILL  PRESIDENT 
McKiNLEY — SNEERS  AT  THE  POLICE — HER  HEARTLESS  WORDS  AFTER 
THE  PRESIDENT'S  DEATH — CHARGE  THAT  CONSPIRACY  WAS  HATCHED 
IN  CHICAGO— CZOLGOSZ  NOT  INSANE  NOR  A  DEGENERATE. 


Czolgosz  was  a  follower  of  Emma  Goldman,  the  high  priestess  of 
anarchy  in  the  United  States,  and  it  was  in  consequence  of  her  fervid 
teachings  that  he  shot  the  President.  Czolgosz  was  not  a  man  of  any 
high  order  of  intellectuality ;  he  was  merely  a  brute,  a  boor  and  a  mudsill. 

Down  in  a  cellar  on  Henry  street  in  New  York  a  number  of  Russian 
refugees  organized  a  free-thought  Anarchistic  society,  and  started  a  paper 
known  as  the  Freie  Arbeiter  Stimme,  or  "Free  Workman's  Voice."  Here, 
by  the  light  of  a  lamp,  speakers  standing  on  a  soap  box  addressed  the 
motley  gathering  of  foreigners  from  all  lands. 

Among  the  orators  were  Johann  Most,  Justus  Schwab,  the  Jew  Gold- 
berg, who  was  a  confrere  of  Michael  Bakunin  himself;  Merlino,  the 
Italian  Anarchist,  and  others.  Emma  Goldman  was  a  frequent  speaker. 

Just  after  the  shooting  of  the  President  Most  said,  "What  good 
would  it  do  to  kill  McKinley  unless  Roosevelt  was  killed,  too?  Both 
must  be  put  out  of  the  way  to  do  any  good." 

ARREST  OF  TWELVE  AVOWED  ANARCHISTS. 

It  is  known  that  Czolgosz  drew  inspiration  from  the  Chicago  "Reds," 
the  police  of  that  city  having  laid  the  fact  bare.  The  claim  was  also  made 
that  when  he  went  to  Buffalo  on  his  murderous  mission  he  was  the  agent 
of  a  group  of  Chicago  conspirators. 

Twelve  avowed  Anarchists  were  placed  in  cells  in  Chicago  police 
stations  the  day  following  the  shooting  of  President  McKinley,  and  at 
least  five  of  these  acknowledged  an  acquaintance  with  Czolgosz.  They 
declared,  however,  that  he  was  no  more  than  a  rattle-brained  follower  of 

104 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  105 

their  cult  with  whom  they  never  conferred  and  of  whose  plans  for  shoot- 
ing the  President  they  knew  nothing. 

Czolgosz  was  in  Chicago  for  a  time  until  July  I2th.  Emma  Goldman, 
high  in  Chicago's  more  "radical"  anarchistic  circles,  was  the  chief 
inspiration  for  the  assailant  to  commit  his  crime.  It  was  in  Chicago 
that  Czolgosz  met  Emma  Goldman  only  seven  weeks  before  the  shooting. 
One  young  girl  of  Chicago,  professing  Anarchy,  was  with  Emma  Goldman 
in  Buffalo  for  three  weeks  late  in  July  and  early  in  August.  They  stood 
in  the  Temple  of  Music  near  the  spot  where,  on  Friday,  President  Mc- 
Kinley  was  struck  down. 

Two  men  left  Chicago's  modern  center  of  anarchy,  the  house  at  No. 
515  Carroll  Avenue  where  Abraham  Isaak,  Sr.,  published  Free  Society, 
the  organ  of  anarchism,  the  Tuesday  before  the  President  was  stricken 
down.  These  men,  it  was  believed,  may  have  been  in  some  way  connected 
with  the  crime  of  Czolgosz.  The  latter  confessed,  under  pressure,  that 
he  had  two  accomplices,  but  said  one  was  a  woman. 

The  foregoing  points  were  established  by  the  police  of  Chicago. 

The  developments  of  Saturday,  September  yth,  in  Chicago,  which 
linked  Czolgosz  with  Chicago  were  brought  out  as  a  result  of  the  twelve 
arrests.  Nine  of  these  prisoners,  all  taken  from  the  house  at  No.  515 
Carroll  Avenue,  stood  charged  with  "conspiracy  to  kill  and  assassinate  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  William  McKinley."  The  nine  were : 

Abraham  Isaak,  Sr.,  publisher  of  the  Free  Society  and  former  pub- 
lisher of  the  Firebrand,  the  organ  of  anarchy  which  was  suppressed. 

Abraham  Isaak,  Jr. 

Clemence  Pfuetzner. 

Alfred  Schneider. 

Hippolyte  Havel. 

Henry  Travaglio. 

Julia  Mechanic. 

Marie  Isaak,  mother. 

Marie  Isaak,  daughter. 

The  warrants  on  which  they  were  held  made  this  charge: 

"Conspiracy  to  do  an  illegal  act,  paragraph  96,  page  1250,  Star  & 
Curtis  (statutes).  Time,  on  or  about  Sept.  5,  1901. 

"Specific  act:  Conspiracy  to  kill  and  assassinate  President  of  the 
United  States,  William  McKinley;  conspired  with  Leon  Czolgosz,  alias 
Fred  C.  Nieman." 

The  three  others  arrested  in  Chicago,  taken  in  a  raid  on  the  house  at 
No.  100  Newberry  Avenue,  were: 


io6  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

Martin  Raznick,  cloakmaker,  who  rented  the  premises  at  this  number. 

Maurice  Fox. 

Michael  Raz. 

In  this  house  the  detectives  from  Maxwell  Street  Station  found  box 
after  box  heaped  with  literature  of  anarchy  and  socialism.  There  were 
pictures  of  Emma  Goldman  and  other  leaders.  There  were  also  many 
copies  of  the  Firebrand,  Isaak's  old  paper. 

Of  those  in  custody  Abraham  Isaak,  Sr.,  was  the  man  looked  on  as 
the  ringleader.  That  the  Buffalo  authorities  held  this  view  was  evidenced 
by  the  telegram  on  which  Chief  O'Neill  and  Chief  of  Detectives  Colleran 
acted.  It  was  from  Chief  of  Police  Bull,  arid  read : 

"We  have  in  custody  Leon  Czolgosz,  alias  Fred  Nieman,  the  Presi- 
dent's assassin.  Locate  and  arrest  E.  J.  Isaak,  who  is  editor  of  a  Social- 
istic paper  and  a  follower  of  Emma  Goldman,  from  whom  Nieman  is  said 
to  have  taken  instructions.  It  looks  as  if  there  might  be  a  plot,  and  that 
these  people  may  be  implicated." 

Isaak  himself  acknowledged  that  he  knew  Czolgosz,  but  said  that  he 
never  took  him  in  his  confidence.  He  declared  to  the  police  that  he  knew 
him  only  a  short  time — as  Czolz — and  regarded  him  as  a  spy  or  an  unsafe 
man.  In  substantiation  of  this  Isaak  produced  a  copy  of  his  paper,  Free 
Society,  of  date  Sept.  I,  containing  a  warning  that,  he  declares,  referred 
to  Czolgosz.  It  is  held  by  the  police,  however,  that  this  may  have  been 
merely  a  blind,  understood  by  plotters  in  a  well-laid  conspiracy.  The 
notice  ran : 

"ATTENTION! 

"The  attention  of  the  comrades  is  called  to  another  spy.  He  is  well 
dressed,  of  medium  height,  rather  narrow  shoulders,  blond,  and  about  25 
years  of  age.  Up  to  the  present  he  has  made  his  appearance  in  Chicago 
and  Cleveland.  In  the  former  place  he  remained  but  a  short  time,  while 
in  Cleveland  he  disappeared  when  the  comrades  had  confirmed  them- 
selves of  his  identity  and  were  on  the  point  of  exposing  him.  His  de- 
meanor is  of  the  usual  sort,  pretending  to  be  greatly  interested  in  the  cause, 
asking  for  names  or  soliciting  aid  for  acts  of  contemplated  violence.  If 
this  same  individual  makes  his  appearance  elsewhere  the  comrades  are 
warned  in  advance  and  can  act  accordingly." 

Perhaps  the  most  important  light  on  the  case  was  brought  out  during 
the  police  examination  of  Editor  Isaak's  daughter  Marie,  sixteen  years 
old,  but  a  thorough  believer  in  anarchism.  Czolgosz  was  in  Chicago  about 
July  1 2th,  Marie  admitted.  Emma  Goldman  had  been  here  during  June 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  107 

and  until  the  middle  of  July.  She  had  met  the  tried  and  faithful  in  the 
house  at  No.  515  Carroll  Avenue.  She  had  met  Czolgosz  there. 

"He  walked  with  Emma  Goldman  part  of  the  way  to  the  railroad 
station  on  July  I2th,"  the  girl  admitted. 

Then  she  sought  to  correct  this,  saying  hurriedly : 

"This  man  came  to  my  father's  office  and  to  our  house  about  seven 
weeks  ago  and  attempted  to  get  acquainted,  but  father  thought  that  he 
was  either  a  spy  or  a  detective.  So  he  was  turned  aside,"  she  added 
quickly. 

It  was  this  young  girl,  Marie  Isaak,  who  visited  the  Buffalo  Exposi- 
tion with  Emma  Goldman. 

EDITOR  ISAAK  A  LOUD  ANARCHIST. 

Isaak  admitted  at  the  outset  that  Emma  Goldman  had  been  a  guest 
at  his  house  during  her  stay  in  Chicago,  and  that  Czolgosz,  who  was 
known  among  local  anarchists  as  Czolsz,  also  had  called  there  and  been 
the  recipient  of  his  hospitality. 

Said  he:  "The  man  made  a  bad  impression  on  me  from  the  first, 
and  when  he  called  me  aside  and  asked  me  about  the  secret  meetings  of 
Chicago  Anarchists  I  was  sure  he  was  a  spy.  I  despised  the  man  as  soon 
as  I  saw  him  and  was  positive  he  was  a  spy.  I  was  suspicious  of  him 
all  the  time,  so  I  wrote  to  E.  Schilling,  one  of  our  comrades  in  Cleveland, 
Ohio,  and  asked  him  if  he  knew  of  such  a  man. 

"Schilling  replied  that  a  fellow  answering  his  description  had  called 
on  him  and  that  he  believed  the  man  was  a  spy  in  the  employ  of  the  police. 
He  said  he  wanted  to  'search'  the  stranger,  but  was  alone  when  he  called 
and  did  not  care  to  attempt  the  job.  Schilling  arranged  a  meeting  for 
another  night,  but  Czolgosz  didn't  show  up,  and  all  trace  of  him  was  lost. 
I  wrote  to  Cleveland  because  Czolgosz  had  told  me  he  once  lived  there. 

"After  I  received  Schilling's  letter  I  printed  an  article  in  my  paper 
denouncing  the  fellow  as  a  spy  and  warning  my  people  against  him." 

"Are  you  an  anarchist  ?" 

"Yes,  sir,  I  am,"  Isaak  answered  with  swelling  pride. 

"What  do  you  mean  by  anarchism  ?" 

"I  mean  a  country  without  government.  We  recognize  neither  law 
nor  the  right  of  one  man  to  govern  another.  The  trouble  with  the  world 
is  that  it  is  struggling  to  abolish  effect  without  seeking  to  get  at  the  cause. 
Yes,  I  am  an  anarchist,  and  there  are  10,000  people  in  Chicago  who  think 
and  believe  as  I  do.  You  don't  hear  about  them  because  they  are  not 
organized.  But  we  have  groups.  Whenever  there  is  some  propaganda 


io8  WILLiAM    McKINLEY. 

to  be  promoted  these  groups  meet,  arrange  the  details,  and  provide  the 
necessary  money." 

"Do  the  anarchists  of  Chicago  hold  secret  meetings  ?" 

"No,  sir,  there  are  no  secret  meetings.  Our  societies  assemble  often, 
but  the  meetings  are  always  open.  At  least  I  announce  them  in  my 
paper." 

"How  do  your  people  in  Chicago  feel  about  the  assassination  of 
President  McKinley?" 

"Assassination  is  nothing  but  a  natural  phenomenon.  It  always  has 
existed  and  will  exist  as  long  as  this  tyrannical  system  of  government 
prevails.  However,  we  don't  believe  tyranny  can  be  abolished  by  the  kill- 
ing of  one  man.  Yet  there  will  be  absolute  anarchy. 

"In  Russia  I  was  a  Nihilist.  There  are  secret  meetings  there,  and 
I  wan  to  tell  you  that  as  soon  as  you  attempt  to  suppress  anarchy  here 
there  will  be  secret  meetings  in  the  United  States. 

"I  don't  believe  in  killing  rulers,  but  I  do  believe  in  self-defense.  As 
long  as  you  let  anarchists  talk  their  creed  openly  in  this  country  the  con- 
servatives will  not  be  in  favor  of  assassinating  executives." 

Hippolyte  Havel,  the  second  one  of  the  Chicago  suspects  to  be  exam- 
ined, was  an  excitable  Bohemian,  35  years  of  age.  In  appearance  he  was 
the  opposite  of  Isaak.  Dwarfed  of  stature,  narrow  eyed,  with  jet  black 
hair  hanging  in  a  confused  mass  over  his  low  forehead,  and  a  manner  of 
talking  that  brings  into  play  both  hands,  he  looked  the  part  when  he  boldly 
told  Chief  O'Neill  that  he  was  an  anarchist  and  wouldn't  have  told  the 
police  even  if  he  had  known  an  assassin  was  going  to  Buffalo  to  kill 
President  McKinley. 

As  to  Czolgosz  he  said :  "I  talked  with  the  man  about  half  an  hour. 
He  talked  like  a  little  child.  No,  I  don't  believe  he  was  insane,  but  he  asked 
such  foolish  questions.  He  was  28  or  30  years  of  age,  about  five  feet  ten 
or  eleven  inches  tall,  and  I  think  was  smooth  shaven.  I  don't  remember 
much  that  he  said  except  that  he  wanted  to  know  all  about  the  'comrades' 
in  Chicago  and  about  the  secret  meetings  of  local  anarchists." 

ARREST  OF  Miss  GOLDMAN  AT  CHICAGO. 

Miss  Goldman  was  arrested  in  Chicago  on  Tuesday,  September  loth, 

at  No.  303  Sheffield  Street,  where  she  had  been  stopping  for  several  days. 

She  was  taken  on  a  warrant  served  by  Detective  Herts,  who  served  it 

upon  the  woman  after  gaining  entrance  to  the  house  through  a  transom. 

The  complaint  upon  which  the  warrant  was  issued  is  as  follows : 

"The  complaint  and  information  of  Luke  P.  Colleran  of  Chicago  in 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  109 

said  county  made  before  J.  K.  Prindiville,  one  justice  of  the  peace  in 
aforesaid  county  on  this  loth  day  of  September,  1901. 

"Said  complainant  being  duly  sworn  upon  his  oath  says  that  on  to-wit 
the  day  and  year  and  in  the  county  aforesaid  Emma  Goldman,  Abraham 
Isaak,  Sr.,  Abraham  Isaak,  Jr.,  Marie  Isaak,  Sr.,  Marie  Isaak,  Jr.,  Clem- 
ence  Pfuetzner,  Julia  Mechanic,  Hippolyte  Havel  and  Alfred  Schneider 
did  unlawfully  conspire  and  agree  together  feloniously  and  willfully,  with 
malice  aforethought,  to  kill  and  murder  William  McKinley,  contrary  to  the 
form  of  the  statute  in  such  case  made  and  provided,  and  this  complainant 
has  just  and  reasonable  grounds  for  believing  that  the  aforesaid  Emma 
Goldman,  Abraham  Isaak,  Sr.,  Abraham  Isaak,  Jr.,  Marie  Isaak,  Sr., 
Marie  Isaak,  Jr.,  Clemence  Pfuetzner,  Julia  Mechanic  are  guilty  of  the 
offense  aforesaid,  and  therefore  prays  that  the  said  Emma  Goldman  may 
be  arrested  and  dealt  with  according  to  the  law. 

"LUKE  P.   COLLERAN. 

"Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  on  this  loth  day  of  September, 
1901.  JOHN  K.  PRINDIVILLE, 

"Justice  of  the  Peace." 

When  arrested  she  was  asked :  "Do  you  believe,  Miss  Goldman,  that 
anything  you  said  incited  that  man  to  his  deed  ?" 

"If  he  said  that  he  is  not  an  anarchist.  That  address  dwelt  particu- 
larly on  the  mistake  of  people  confounding  Anarchy  with  violence.  I  am 
not  psychologist  enough  to  see  what  was  going  on  in  that  man's  mind 
and  I  am  not  responsible  for  what  he  did,  but  I  know  that  what  I  said 
did  not  incite  him  to  anything  rash." 

Proceeding  with  her  statement,  Miss  Goldman  said:  "McKinley 
was  simply  a  tool  in  the  hands  of  the  wealthy.  He  was  the  most  insig- 
nificant President  the  United  States  ever  had.  Still,  I  do  not  see  what 
could  come  out  of  killing  him.  I  know  that  there  are  people  in  desperate 
circumstances  who  may  be  driven  to  commit  desperate  acts." 

PRESIDENT'S  DEATH  DOES  NOT  AFFECT  HER. 

"How  do  you  feel  regarding  the  President's  death  ?" 

"Why  should  it  affect  me  ?  I  do  not  feel  any  more  concerned  over  his 
death  than  over  that  of  any  other  man." 

"What  do  you  think  of  President  McKinley's  words,  'God's  will,  not 
ours,  be  done'?" 

"I  don't  think  they  signify  anything.  He  believed  in  God  and  it  is 
natural  to  suppose  that  he  would  think  that  way  as  he  was  about  to  die. 


no  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

I  don't  believe  in  God,  and  for  that  reason  those  words  do  not  appeal  to  me 
in  any  way." 

"But  don't  you  think  the  President's  supreme  faith  in  God  gave 
evidence  of  a  great  nobility  of  character  ?"  she  was  asked. 

"Thousands  of  other  men  have  had  as  great,  if  not  greater,  faith  in 
God  than  he  had,  but  you  never  hear  of  them.  His  dying  words  do  not 
appeal  to  me  in  the  least.  Many  scientists  have  given  utterance  to  more 
important  words  than  those  and  you  never  hear  of  them.  President  Mc- 
Kinley  may  have  been  a  model  husband,  but  there  are  thousands  of  others 
as  good  as  he  was.  He  had  an  opportunity  to  satisfy  every  wish  of  his 
wife,  while  there  are  many  others  who  are  just  as  anxious  to  but  are 
unable." 

"Do  you  feel  sorry  that  the  President  is  dead  ?" 

"I  feel  sorry  for  his  wife,"  Miss  Goldman  replied.  "Not  because  she 
is  the  wife  of  a  President,  but  because  she  is  a  woman.  She  is  simply 
obliged  to  bow  to  the  inevitable.  The  position  of  a  ruler  in  these  days 
is  a  perilous  one  and  when  he  is  killed  it  is  simply  the  result  of  his  assum- 
ing the  position." 

Miss  Goldman's  schedule  of  movements,  as  given  by  her,  was  as  fol- 
lows :  Left  Chicago  with  Marie  Isaak  8 130  p.  m.,  July  12 ;  arrived  at  Buf- 
falo with  Miss  Isaak  July  13 ;  left  Buffalo  for  Rochester  July  15.  Stayed 
in  Rochester  a  little  more  than  five  weeks,  not  having  seen  the  Buffalo  Ex- 
position up  to  that  time ;  between  August  13  and  15  went  to  Buffalo,  arriv- 
ing there  Tuesday.  August  13  fell  on  Tuesday;  August  19  started  for 
Pittsburg,  to  become  traveling  saleswoman  for  a  New  York  house;  left 
Pittsburg  September  I  for  St.  Louis,  still  as  saleswoman;  arrived  at  St. 
Louis  September  2,  Labor  Day,  where  she  remained  until  she  started  for 
Chicago. 

THE  LOUISE  MICHEL  OF  AMERICA. 

Emma  Goldman  was  denominated  the  Louise  Michel  of  America. 
Like  the  notorious  Frenchwoman,  she  believed  in  the  destruction  of  all 
law,  leaving  humanity  to  get  along  under  a  form  of  voluntary  association. 
Her  writings,  which  Czolgosz  said  influenced  him  in  his  attempt  to  assas- 
sinate the  President,  have  appeared  in  pamphlets  and  the  cheap  magazines 
devoted  to  the  doctrines  of  the  "Reds." 

The  Chicago  Firebrand  at  one  time  contained  an  attack  by  her  on 
the  institution  of  marriage.  She  would  abolish  both  the  marriage  tie  and 
divorce.  "The  consent  of  neither  priest  nor  the  law,"  according  to  this 
disciple  of  Bakunin,  should  not  be  asked  in  the  selection  of  life  partners. 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  m 

Her  career  was  one  unceasing  warfare  against  modern  society.  In 
the  streets  and  among  the  slums  of  New  York  and  other  American  cities 
she  carried  on  her  crusade,  which  began  about  the  time  of  the  Chicago 
riots  in  1886. 

An  important  link  in  proving  that  a  conspiracy  to  kill  the  President 
existed  developed  in  Buffalo  Friday,  September  I3th,  in  warrants  sworn 
out  for  the  arrest  of  Dr.  Isaac  Saylin  of  Buffalo,  who  was  arrested  in 
Chicago  on  September  I2th.  The  physician  told  the  police  that  he  was  in 
Chicago  to  see  a  sick  brother.  Evidence  was  secured  by  the  police  showing 
that  his  brother  was  not  sick  at  that  time.  The  police  regarded  with  sus- 
picion the  fact  that  a  meeting  was  held  at  the  house  of  Miss  Mattie  Lang 
in  Buffalo  August  3ist,  at  which  Emma  Goldman,  Dr.  Saylin  and  several 
others  were  present. 

On  Saturday,  the  day  the  President  died,  the  hearing  of  a  petition  for 
habeas  corpus  on  behalf  of  Editor  Isaak,  Miss  Goldman  and  the  other 
prisoners  was  to  have  been  had  in  Chicago,  but  the  feeling  against  those 
persons  was  so  intense  that  it  was  postponed.  In  order  to  prevent  an 
attack  upon  them  by  the  incensed  people  of  Chicago  a  very  heavy  guard 
was  put  over  them  and  they  were  hurried  from  the  courtroom  to  the  jail 
without  ceremony  or  delay.  Fortunately  the  jail  was  in  the  same  building. 
Had  the  prisoners  gone  into  the  street  they  would  certainly  have  been 
mobbed. 

All  of  them  looked  extremely  pale,  frightened  and  apprehensive,  and 
were  glad  when  they  were  safe  in  their  cells  again. 

On  September  loth  a  violent  anarchist  named  Antonio  Maggio  was 
arrested  on  order  from  Washington.  He  had  been  making  bold  speeches 
for  some  time  previous,  and  distributed  Socialistic  literature.  In  them  he 
repeated  several  times  that  President  McKinley  would  be  shot  before 
October  ist,  1901.  The  arrest  was  regarded  as  a  most  important  one. 

THE  MEN  WHO  ARRESTED  THE  ASSASSIN.' 

Credit  for  the  arrest  of  President  McKinley's  assassin  and  for  his 
rescue  from  the  crowd  was  claimed  by  Captain  John  P.  Wisser  of  the 
Artillery  Corps,  U.  S.  A.,  to  belong  to  his  men,  whose  names  he  gave  in 
his  report  of  the  shooting  to  the  Adjutant  General  of  the  United  States 
Army  at  Washington.  Captain  Wisser  said  in  his  report  that  he  made  a 
detail  at  the  request  of  Mr.  Babcock  of  the  reception  committee  to  assist 
in  regulating  the  advance  of  the  people  at  the  President's  reception  in  the 
Temple  of  Music  September  6th. 


H2  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

Corporal  Bertschey  and  ten  men  reported  to  Mr.  Babcock  at  3  p.  m. 
The  corporal  was  a  soldier  of  twenty  years'  service.  The  corporal  gave 
the  men  in  his  detail  instructions  to  keep  their  eyes  open  and  watch  every 
man  approaching  the  President. 

"When  the  assassin  fired  two  shots,"  said  Captain  Wisser,  "Private 
Brooks  was  standing  immediately  in  the  rear  of  John  Milburn,  who  was 
on  the  left  of  the  President;  Private  O'Brien  was  immediately  on  Mr. 
Milburn's  left;  Private  Fennbough  was  directly  opposite  the  President 
and  Private  Neff  was  opposite  Private  O'Brien.  Corporal  Bertschey  was 
midway  between  Private  O'Brien  and  the  point  where  the  President  stood. 
When  the  shots  were  fired  Private  O'Brien  was  the  first  man  on  the  assas- 
sin, with  Private  Neff.  Corporal  Bertschey  and  Private  Brooks  reached 
him  at  about  the  same  time,  Private  Brooks  colliding  with  Mr.  Milburn 
in  his  effort  to  get  at  the  assassin. 

"Private  O'Brien  got  the  assassin  down.  Private  Neff  jumped  on 
him  before  he  was  down  and  held  his  arm  while  Private  O'Brien  wrenched 
away  the  revolver  as  he  was  falling.  Corporal  Bertschey  then  jumped  on 
the  assassin,  kneeling  on  his  chest  and  neck,  and  said :  'I  claim  this  man 
as  my  prisoner.'  Private  Heiser  followed  Corporal  Bertschey  in  falling  on 
the  prisoner,  and  while  he  was  down  on  his  right  knee  at  the  right  side 
of  the  prisoner's  head  he  saw  that  the  President  was  still  standing  up 
looking  down  on  the  group  of  men  on  the  prisoner.  The  President  then 
walked  with  the  help  of  two  men  to  a  chair  and  sat  down." 

The  report  added  that  the  secret  service  men  came  on  the  scene  and 
grabbed  Corporal  Bertschey,  sweeping  away  the  corporal's  detail,  and 
tried  to  take  the  assassin's  pistol  from  Private  O'Brien,  who  frustrated 
their  attempt. 

"The  secret  service  men  then  took  the  prisoner  to  the  Music  Temple. 
One  of  them  hit  the  assassin  in  the  face.  Then  they  took  him  to  a  room 
to  the  left  of  the  stage  in  the  Music  Temple. 

"Four  of  the  secret  service  men  continued  in  their  effort  to  take  the 
pistol  from  O'Brien,  who  finally  handed  it  to  his  corporal.  The  secret 
service  men  failed  in  their  attempt  to  take  the  weapon  from  the  corporal, 
who  put  it  in  his  pocket." 

While  Captain  Wisser  held  back  the  crowd  with  his  men  the  secret 
service  men  got  the  assassin  in  a  carriage  and  took  him  off.  Captain 
Wisser's  men  kept  the  crowd  from  capturing  the  prisoner  by  standing 
with  fixed  bayonets. 

The  Captain  sent  a  detail  to  clear  the  esplanade  and  keep  up  with  the 
carriage.  Two  of  Captain  Wisser's  men  ordered  two  men  from  the  wheels 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  113 

of  the  carriage,  but  the  two  men  hung  on  until  Captain  Wisser's  man, 
Sergeant  Rothweiler,  threatened  to  shoot.  Captain  Wisser  put  the  revol- 
ver in  a  case,  sealed  it  and  turned  it  over  to  the  Chief  of  Police  of  Buffalo, 
September  7th. 

In  conclusion,  Captain  Wisser  said  in  his  report: 

"I  respectfully  recommend  that  my  detail  of  men  be  mentioned  in 
general  orders  for  their  conduct  on  this  occasion,  which  was  all  that  could 
be  desired." 

A  STUDY  OF  THE  ASSASSIN  CZOLGOSZ. 

Dr.  Harold  N.  Moyer,  one  of  the  most  eminent  alienists  in  the  United 
States,  made  a  study  of  a  photograph  of  the  assassin  Czolgosz,  and  pre- 
pared a  statement  as  to  the  indications  of  insanity  or  degeneracy  found  in 
the  features. 

"The  photograph  that  is  available  for  examination  is  a  reproduction 
of  a  finished  picture  which  has  probably  been  retouched,  and  it  is  possible 
that  the  art  of  the  photographer  may  have  obliterated  some  of  the  im- 
portant features. 

"The  face  and  head,  taken  as  a  whole,  make  a  decidedly  pleasing 
impression.  At  first  glance  they  would  not  be  taken  as  belonging  to  a 
degenerate,  but  it  is  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  any  photograph  taken  full 
front  may  be  devoid  of  some  distinctive  characteristics  which  would  be 
found  in  the  original.  There  are  certain  prominences  of  the  jaw  and 
irregularities  in  the  profile  which  would  not  show  in  a  full  front  view. 
Hence  an  opinion  based  on  an  examination  such  as  is  afforded  by  a  study 
of  this  picture  may  be  at  best  only  tentative. 

"The  forehead  is  of  medium  height,  the  hair  line  coming  rather 
well  down.  The  nose  is  straight.  The  eyes  are  moderately  deep  set,  and 
a  line  running  from  the  inner  to  the  outer  angle  of  each  eyelid  is  exactly 
at  right  angles  with  the  long  axis  of  the  face.  The  nose  may  possibly 
be  deformed  when  seen  upon  profile. 

"The  mouth  is  the  best  feature  of  the  face.  The  lips  are  curved, 
both  upper  and  lower,  and  the  groove  extending  from  the  septum  of  the 
nose  to  the  upper  lip  is  well  formed. 

"The  chin  is  well  formed,  and  is  what  would  probably  be  called  a 
'weak  chin.' 

"The  projection  of  the  jaws,  which  is  of  such  great  importance  in 
estimating  degeneracy,  cannot  be  estimated  because  the  picture  is  a  full 
front  view. 

"The  ears  are  well  formed  and  do  not  set  out  from  the  head,  but 
the  details  of  their  formation  cannot  be  described  from  the  photograph. 


114  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

Their  size  corresponds  with  the  general  facial  development.     They  are 
not  over  large  or  under  sized. 

"The  general  outline  of  the  head,  the  pose  of  the  shoulders  and  neck, 
indicate,  so  far  as  the  upper  portion  of  the  body  is  concerned,  a  well 
formed  individual.  It  is,  however,  to  be  remembered  that  the  photo- 
graph was  taken  while  the  individual  was  posing  under  the  direction  of  a 
photographer,  and  hence  may  not  represent  a  characteristic  attitude.  One 
of  the  characteristic  signs  of  a  degenerate  is  want  of  symmetry  between 
the  two  sides  of  the  head  and  face. 

"So  far  as  one  can  judge  from  his  photograph  there  is  no  want  of 
symmetry.  But  the  amplification  is  not  great,  and  with  minute  measure- 
ments it  is  easy  to  be  at  fault  in  this  particular.  The  left  side  of  the  face 
is  in  shadow,  hence  it  appears  smaller,  but  it  may  not  really  be  so. 

"The  individual  would  not  be  classed  among  degenerates  from  a 
study  of  his  photograph  alone,  nor  does  he  present  any  characteristic  signs 
of  an  insane  person.  As  a  rule,  the  insane  may  be  classed  by  a  study  of 
their  pictures.  The  main  types  of  insanity  have  a  certain  expression  in 
common  that  would  enable  one  to  roughly  group  them.  This  would  be 
true  of  a  majority  of  cases,  but  there  are  many  insane  individuals  who 
present  nothing  in  their  features  characteristic  of  insanity. 

"Naturally  a  study  of  this  individual's  face  recalls  some  of  the  great 
criminals  that  have  gone  before — notably  Prendergast,  who  assassinated 
Mayor  Harrison  of  Chicago,  and  Guiteau,  who  assassinated  President 
Garfield. 

"Both  of  these  individuals  are  now  regarded  by  those  who  make  a 
close  study  of  these  subjects  as  insane.  These  propositions  were  denied 
at  the  time,  and  there  was  much  expert  testimony — apparently  conflicting 
— in  both  of  these  cases. 

"Prendergast  assassinated  Mayor  Harrison  as  a  result  of  his  failure 
to  receive  an  appointment  for  which  he  was  in  no  way  fitted  and  for 
which  he  had  not  been  considered.  The  mere  receiving  of  his  applica- 
tion was  sufficient,  in  his  distorted  mind,  to  create  an  impression  that  he 
was  in  some  way  entitled  to  recognition. 

"The  killing  of  President  Garfield  had  the  same  basic  elements,  plus 
considerable  general  excitement  growing  out  of  party  controversies  at  the 
time. 

"In  each  case — those  of  Mayor  Harrison  and  President  Garfield — 
there  was  a  motive,  but  it  was  of  a  sort  that  could  only  have  moved  a 
mind  incapable  of  reasoning  correctly.  We  are  not  now  saying  that  in 
each  case  the  mental  defect  was  of  a  sort  that  should  absolve  the  indi- 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  115 

viduals  of  responsibility  for  their  crimes,  but  we  do  say  that  to  class  them 
as  normal  persons,  capable  of  reasoning  correctly,  means  failure  to  recog- 
nize the  most  obvious  of  mental  defects. 

"In  this  latest  attempt  at  the  assassination  there  is  no  personal  motive, 
so  far  as  is  now  known.  The  President  bore  no  personal  relation — even 
in  the  slightest  degree — to  this  individual,  and  he  reasoned  as  correctly 
as  most  of  his  class  reason — namely:  that  the  taking  of  the  life  of  the 
President  was  a  furtherance  of  the  Anarchistic  propaganda. 

"Judging  this  man  by  his  surroundings  and  the  influences  which  have 
been  brought  to  bear  upon  him,  it  was  a  sane  act,  though  the  attempt  being 
ever  so  foolish  from  the  standpoint  of  the  ordinary  law-abiding  citizen. 
It  was  a  crime  the  outgrowth  of  adequate  causes,  and  not  a  distortion  of 
an  inadequate  motive  by  an  insane  mind." 

The  idea  that  the  assassin  of  President  McKinley  was  insane  never 
entered  the  head  of  any  person  until  after  the  commission  of  the  awful 
deed,  and  then  it  was  merely  said  that  "he  must  have  been  crazy  to  do  such 
a  thing."  However,  to  guard  against  the  possibility  of  the  insanity  theory 
being  a  prime  factor  in  the  trial  the  District  Attorney  at  Buffalo 
had  Czolgosz,  after  his  arrest,  examined  daily  by  prominent  physicians, 
who  found  the  murderer  normal  and  fully  capable  of  appreciating  what 
he  had  done. 

Czolgosz  was  never  called  crazy  by  any  of  those  who  associated  with 
him.  He  was  a  laborer  most  of  his  working  life,  with  the  expection  of 
the  time  when  he  kept  a  saloon,  but  he  always  conducted  himself  in  a 
rational  manner.  He  persistently  preached  the  doctrines  of  anarchy, 
and  was  often  heard  to  say  that  he  wanted  to  be  "active,"  but  this  was 
no  sign  of  insanity. 

Immediately  succeeding  the  death  of  President  McKinley  the  wrath 
of  the  Buffalo  people  became  so  great  that  it  was  necessary  to  hide  the 
place  of  imprisonment  of  the  assassin.  The  assassin  was  hastily  escorted 
to  the  penitentiary  at  Trenton  Avenue  and  Pennsylvania  Street,  in  Buffalo, 
where  he  remained  until  removed  to  Danemora  Prison,  where  he  suffered 
the  death  penalty  for  his  outrageous  crime. 

At  i  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  September  I4th  Czolgosz  was  taken 
away,  and  he  went  in  the  clothes  he  wore  at  the  time  he  committed  his 
crime  and  which  he  wore  all  the  time  he  was  in  the  dungeon  in  the  base- 
ment of  the  police  headquarters.  Chief  Cusack  was  the  only  man  with 
him. 

A  door  of  the  cellroom  in  which  was  the  dungeon  that  contained 
Czolgosz  opened  into  a  corridor  that  ran  north  and  south.  Near  the  north 


ii6  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

end  of  the  hall  and  opening  from  its  left  side  was  a  door  that  led  into 
a  room  that  comprised  the  northwest  corner  of  the  cellar,  and  from  the 
northwest  corner  of  that  room  a  door  opened  into  Erie  Street.  It  was 
the  .most  obscure  door  the  building  had.  Ordinarily  it  was  used  only  for 
the  removal  of  barrels  of  ashes  and  garbage.  It  was  through  that  corridor, 
that  northwest  room  and  that  exit  that  Chief  Cusack  smuggled  the  pris- 
oner at  an  hour  when  the  attention  of  newspaper  men  was  centered  in 
doings  in  the  superintendent's  office  on  the  second  floor.  A  few  passers- 
by  saw  the  two  men  emerge  from  the  remote  doorway.  The  two  passed 
directly  across  the  sidewalk  to  the  curb  and  got  into  a  carriage  that  had 
arrived  only  a  second  or  two  before.  Czolgosz  walked  briskly  as  his 
custodian  led  him  to  the  carriage. 

If  Czolgosz  was  at  all  reluctant  when  the  detective  took  him  out 
of  his  cell  the  most  cunning  and  resourceful  of  all  Buffalo  sleuths  had 
convinced  him  that  a  hasty  transfer  was  necessary.  Perhaps  the  chief 
had  brought  him  to  believe  he  was  in  imminent  danger  of  being  mobbed 
and  lynched  if  he  remained  at  headquarters. 

Cusack  took  no  chances  of  the  prisoner's  escape.  Czolgosz  was 
securely  handcuffed  to  him.  To  make  a  break  for  liberty  the  murderer 
would  have  to  lug  Cusack  with  him.  The  handcuff  was  on  the  officer's 
left  wrist,  and  his  right  hand  was  free  to  draw  a  revolver  which  he  had. 
But  the  prisoner  made  no  attempt  to  escape.  The  two  had  hardly  seated 
themselves  when  the  driver  whipped  up  the  team  and  drove  at  breakneck 
speed  across  Erie  street  to  the  Upper  Terrace. 

BIOGRAPHY  OF  EMMA  GOLDMAN. 

Emma  Goldman,  according  to  conditions,  preached  both  for  and 
against  violence  in  carrying  out  the  principles — as  she  called  them — of 
anarchy.  She  was  never  a  very  consistent  person,  because,  so  some  per- 
sons say,  she  had  always  had  her  speeches  and  the  articles  which  appeared 
over  her  name  written  for  her  by  some  one  else.  What  she  lacked  in 
education  and  thought  she  made  up,  however,  by  a  crude  eloquence,  which 
stirred  up  many  a  gathering  of  anarchists  in  New  York,  Chicago  and 
other  cities.  She  gained  for  herself  the  title  of  "The  Little  Firebrand," 
a  most  appropriate  title  for  a  person  of  her  lurid  proclivities. 

She  was  about  thirty-five  years  old  when  President  McKinley  was 
shot.  She  was  a  Russian,  the  daughter  of  a  tailor,  and  she  came  to  the 
United  States  in  1884.  At  that  time  she  had  no  more  notion  of  anarchy 
than  she  had  of  constitutional  law.  From  the  first  her  associations  in 


The  Old  Home  of  President  McKinley  a.t  Canton.  Ohio 


The  McKinley  Home  as  it  now  appears  after  being  re-modeled 


Soldiers  on  Gua.rd  a.t  the  Mtlbxirn  Home 


The  Sister's  Last  Visit 


Where  the  President  was 

Assassinated 

No.  1  marks  the  position  of  the  President. 
No.  2  the  position  of  Czolgosz. 


President  and  Mrs.  McKinley  and 

Mr.  Milburn  Driving  over  the 

Exposition  Grounds 


The  Sea-t  (X)  where  President  McKinley  Awaited  the  Ambulance 


Eminent  Surgeons  a.nd  Physicians  who  Attended  President  McKinley 

at  Buffalo 


Eugene  Wasdin 
John  Pa.rmenter 


P.  M.  Rixey 
Hermann  Mynter 


Roswell  Park 
MsMthew  D.  Me^rvn 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  121 

New  York  City  were  anarchists,  though,  and  she  soon  became  the  hottest 
headed  of  them  all. 

She  married  a  man  named  Grunbaum  and  lived  with  him  in  Roches- 
ter, N.  Y.  An  anarchist  named  Louis  Bernstein  taught  her  its  first 
principles,  and  pretty  soon  she  had  deserted  her  husband  and  was  travel- 
ing around  the  country  with  Bernstein,  spreading  the  red  doctrines  of 
anarchy. 

She  came  to  New  York  City  soon  and  joined  the  Pioneers  of  Liberty, 
founded  by  Johann  Most.  Her  violent  speeches  sent  chills  up  the  backs  of 
the  Pioneers,  and  finally  when  in  addressing  a  meeting  of  them  she  said : 
"By  and  by  your  wives,  instead  of  cooking  your  dinners,  will  be  cooking 
dynamite,"  they  ran  her  out  of  the  organization. 

Alexander  Berkmann,  whom  Emma  had  met  among  the  Pioneers, 
succeeded  Bernstein  as  her  teacher  in  anarchistic  doctrines.  Berkmann 
and  Bernstein  had  several  fights  over  the  woman,  who  was  then  rather 
good-looking,  but  they  finally  both  lost  her  to  Johann  Most.  Most  and 
Emma  trained  with  the  German  group  of  anarchists. 

Soon  Emma  Goldman's  name  appeared  appended  to  violent  articles 
in  Most's  paper,  "Die  Freiheit."  Most  is  said  to  have  written  all  of  these 
articles.  But  Emma  finally  quarrelled  with  Most,  and  one  night  in  New 
York  City  she  horsewhipped  him  while  he  was  making  a  speech  to  some  of 
his  followers. 

Berkmann's  shooting  of  H.  C.  Frick  at  the  Carnegie  Steel  Works 
made  him  so  much  of  a  hero  with  the  anti-Most  anarchists,  that  Emma, 
who  always  loved  the  spectacular,  went  back  to  him.  She  lived  near  the 
jail  in  which  he  was  confined,  and  she  publicly  applauded  the  Frick 
shooting. 

When  she  returned  to  New  York  City  she  took  great  delight  in  prais- 
ing it  in  public  meetings.  At  that  time  she  made  one  or  two  speeches  of 
the  hair-raising  order.  Nothing  of  so  violent  a  nature  had  ever  been 
heard  publicly  in  that  city  before,  and  nothing  like  it  certainly  was  heard 
afterward.  In  other  cities  she  was  arrested  for  such  speeches,  but  she 
rather  enjoyed  the  advertising  she  got  out  of  arrest.  In  addition  to 
preaching  anarchy  she  preached  free  love  and  atheism. 

Several  meetings  wnich  she  was  addressing  broke  up  because  people 
refused  to  listen  to  her  ravings. 

Finally  in  a  speech  at  New  York  City  the  woman  went  too  far  and 
was  arrested.  She  was  sent  to  the  Island  for  a  year.  At  that  time  she 
declared  that  she  never  preached  violence  and  that  she  was  opposed  to 
disorderly  means  of  bringing  about  the  conversion  of  the  people  to 


122  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

anarchy.  Yet  here  is  an  extract  from  a  speech  that  she  made  just  before 
she  was  arrested: 

"Go  out  into  the  social  revolution.  Prepare  yourselves.  The  capital- 
ists have  prepared  themselves  with  police  who  are  armed  with  clubs  and 
pistols,  but  you  can  defend  yourselves  with  clubs  and  stones  if  you  are 
attacked.  I  tell  you  again,  organize  yourselves  and  go  out  and  demand 
what  you  want.  If  you  don't  get  it,  take  it  by  force.  If  you  take  bread 
alone  you  will  do  very  little  good.  Go  to  the  houses  of  the  capitalists. 
Demand  your  rights.  Prepare  yourselves.  Long  live  anarchy." 

After  her  release  from  prison  even  the  anarchists  wouldn't  have 
much  to  do  with  her,  and  she  went  to  Europe,  saying  that  she  was  through 
with  this  country  and  the  anarchists  in  it  forever.  They  were  a  milk-and- 
water  lot,  she  said,  and  she  had  nothing  in  common  with  them. 

She  made  a  great  many  denials  of  things  which  had  been  said  of  her, 
in  fact,  whitewashed  herself  thoroughly  and  sailed  away.  It  wasn't  long 
before  she  was  back  in  the  United  States  again,  and  she  continued  to 
make  her  home  in  this  country. 

INDICTMENT  AND  TRIAL  OF  THE  ASSASSIN. 

The  assassin  Czolgosz  was  indicted  for  murder  by  the  grand  jury  at 
Buffalo  on  September  i6th,  the  day  President  McKinley's  body  was 
removed  to  Washington,  and  immediately  afterward  arraigned  before 
Judge  Edward  K.  Emery  in  the  County  Court.  By  a  strange  coincidence, 
the  court  was  situated  on  the  floor  above  and  directly  over  the  spot  where 
President  McKinley's  body  had  lain  in  state  a  few  hours  before. 

Czolgosz  came  into  court  chained  by  the  wrists  to  Detectives  Solo- 
mon and  Geary.  His  limbs  were  trembling  so  violently  that  he  had  to  be 
almost  pushed  up  before  the  court. 

Every  eye  was  fixed  upon  the  prisoner.  He  stood  there,  looking 
dumbly,  hopelessly  ahead  with  eyes  that  did  not  seem  capable  of  flashing 
an  angry  look.  Thick  masses  of  curly  chestnut  hair  were  pushed  roughly 
back  from  his  forehead,  a  growth  of  beard  was  on  his  face.  A  murmur 
ran  through  the  crowd  in  the  court.  The  man  before  them  was  a  com- 
plete surprise. 

The  handcuff  on  his  right  wrist  would  not  open,  and  a  half  a  dozen 
detectives  were  giving  it  their  attention.  But  Czolgosz  was  oblivious  to  it 
all.  He  was  like  a  dead  man  to  all  going  on  around  him. 

District  Attorney  Penney  called  him  by  name,  but  he  did  not  answer 
nor  move  his  eyes. 

"Have  you  a  lawyer?"  asked  Mr.  Penney. 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  123 

\ 

Not  a  move  did  Czolgosz  make.     Mr.  Penney  reiterated  the  question, 

thundering  the  words,  but  they  did  not  seem  to  reach  the  prisoner's  ears. 

Mr.  Penney  cleared  his  throat.  He  held  the  freshly  written  indict- 
ment half  opened  in  his  right  hand.  His  left  fore  finger  was  pointed  at 
the  assassin.  His  voice  shook  as  he  spoke. 

"Leon  Czolgosz,  you  have  been  indicted  for  murder  in  the  first  de- 
gree," he  said.  "Have  you  a  lawyer?" 

As  the  word  "murder"  was  framing  on  the  attorney's  lips  Czolgosz 
turned  his  eyes  on  the  speaker's  face  for  one  brief  instant,  and  in  their 
blue  depths  there  was  reflected  horror  and  fear,  terror  too  great  for  words. 
They  seemed  to  say : 

"Save  me,  save  me!" 

His  square  chin  twitched,  his  lips  trembled  and  parted,  and  he  tried 
to  speak,  but  there  was  no  sound.  Then  his  eyes  wandered  to  the  steel 
band  glistening  on  his  right  wrist,  still  resisting  every  attempt  to  remove  it. 

"Have  you  a  lawyer?"  repeated  Mr.  Penney. 

"He  is  trying  to  speak,  your  honor,"  said  Assistant  Police  Chie^f 
Cusack. 

"Do  you  want  a  lawyer,  Czolgosz  ?"  again  asked  Mr.  Penney. 

"There  is  a  charge  of  murder  against  you  here.  Do  you  want  a 
lawyer  ?" 

Czolgosz  trembled  like  a  leaf.  His  eyes  dilated  and  his  face  twitched 
all  over.  His  lips  moved  silently  again.  Judge  Emery  spoke,  repeating 
Mr.  Penney's  query,  but  he  was  no  more  successful.  He  tried  again  with 
a  like  result,  and  then  there  was  a  pause,  during  which  it  seemed  that  no 
one  in  the  room  even  breathed. 

Judge  Emery  rose  from  his  chair.     He  said: 

"Leon  Czolgosz,  you  are  here  charged  with  murder.  Since  it  appears 
that  you  have  no  counsel  it  becomes  the  duty  of  this  country  to  provide 
for  you.  I  have  a  communication  here  from  the  Buffalo  Bar  Association 
suggesting  for  the  service  two  eminent  gentlemen,  famous  in  their  pro- 
fession. It  is  best  for  the  good  name  of  our  State  that  you  should  have 
the  benefit  of  the  defense  the  law  permits.  I  name  as  your  counsel  the 
Honorable  Messrs.  Lorin  L.  Lewis  and  Robert  C.  Titus." 

The  counsel  for  Czolgosz  were  two  retired  members  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  New  York,  and  they  saw  that  their  client  had  a  fair,  impartial 
trial.  The  latter  was  a  speedy  one,  and  resulted  in  the  conviction 
of  the  assassin.  On  Thursday,  September  27th,  he  was  sentenced 
to  expiate  his  crime  by  electrocution. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

McKiNLEY  ONE  OF  THE  MOST  FINISHED  AND  GRACEFUL  ORATORS  THE 
UNITED  STATES  HAS  EVER  PRODUCED — His  EULOGIES  ON  PRESIDENT 
JAMES  A.  GARFIELD,  THE  VOLUNTEER  SOLDIER  OF  AMERICA  AND 
GENERAL  U.  S.  GRANT. 


No  citizen  of  the  Republic  should  fail  to  avail  himself  of  the  oppor- 
tunity to  read  and  study  the  speeches  of  President  McKinley  after  his 
entrance  into  public  life.  They  are  models  of  sincerity,  grace  and  feeling. 

Among  the  most  celebrated  of  his  efforts  was  his  eulogy  of  President 
Garfield  in  accepting  the  statue  of  the  Martyr  President  on  behalf  of  the 
State  of  Ohio,  delivered  in  the  National  House  of  Representatives,  Jan- 
uary i  Qth,  1886.  It  was  a  magnificent  and  striking  eulogy  in  every  way. 

"MR.  SPEAKER: — Complying  with  an  act  of  Congress  passed  July, 
1864,  inviting  each  of  the  States  of  the  Union  to  present  to  National 
Statuary  Hall  the  statues  of  two  of  its  deceased  citizens  illustrious  for 
their  heroic  renown,  or  distinguished  by  civic  or  military  services,  worthy 
of  national  commemoration,  Ohio  brings  her  first  contribution  in  the 
marble  statue  of  James  Abram  Garfield.  There  were  other  citizens  of 
Ohio  earlier  associated  with  the  history  and  progress  of  the  State  and 
illustrious  in  the  nation's  annals  who  might  have  been  fitly  chosen  for 
this  exalted  honor. 

"Governors,  United  States  Senators,  members  of  the  supreme  ju- 
diciary of  the  nation,  closely  identified  with  the  growth  and  greatness  of 
the  State,  who  fill  a  large  space  in  their  country's  history ;  soldiers  of  high 
achievement  in  the  earlier  and  later  wars  of  the  Republic ;  Cabinet  minis- 
ters, trusted  associates  of  the  martyred  Lincoln,  who  had  developed 
matchless  qualities  and  accomplished  masterly  results  in  the  nation's 
supreme  crisis ;  but  from  the  roll  of  illustrious  names  the  unanimous  voice 
of  Ohio  called  the  youngest  and  latest  of  her  historic  dead,  the  scholar,  the 
soldier,  the  national  representative,  the  United  States  Senator-elect,  the 
President  of  the  people,  the  upright  citizen,  and  the  designation  is  every- 
where receive'd  with  approval  and  acclaim. 

124 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  125 

"By  the  action  of  the  authorities  of  the  State  he  loved  so  well  and 
served  so  long,  and  now,  by  the  action  of  the  national  Congress  in  which 
he  was  so  long  a  conspicuous  figure,  he  keeps  company  today  with  'the 
immortal  circle'  in  the  old  Hall  of  Representatives,  which  he  was  wont 
to  call  the  'Third  House,'  where  his  strong  features  and  majestic  form, 
represented  in  marble,  will  attract  the  homage  of  the  present  and  succeed- 
ing generations,  as  in  life  his  great  character  and  commanding  qualities 
earned  the  admiration  of  the  citizens  of  his  own  State  and  the  nation  at 
large,  while  the  lessons  of  his  life  and  the  teachings  of  his  broad  mind 
will  be  cherished  and  remembered  when  marble  and  statues  have  crumbled 
to  decay. 

"James  A.  Garfield  was  born  on  the  iQth  day  of  November,  1831,  in 
Orange,  Cuyahoga  County,  Ohio,  and  died  at  Elberon,  in  the  State  of 
New  Jersey,  on  the  ipth  day  of  September,  1881.  His  boyhood  and  youth 
differed  little  from  others  of  his  own  time.  His  parents  were  very  poor. 
He  worked  from  an  early  age,  like  most  boys  of  that  period.  He  was 
neither  ashamed  nor  afraid  of  manual  labor,  and  engaged  in  it  resolutely 
for  the  means  to  maintain  and  educate  himself.  He  entered  Williams 
College,  in  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  in  1854,  and  graduated  with  honor 
two  years  later,  when  he  assumed  charge  of  Hiram  College  in  his  own 
State. 

"In  1859,  he  was  elected  to  the  Senate  of  Ohio,  being  its  youngest 
member.  Strong  men  were  his  associates  in  that  body,  men  who  have 
since  held  high  stations  in  the  public  service.  Some  of  them  were  his  col- 
leagues here.  In  this,  his  first  political  office,  he  displayed  a  high  order  of 
ability,  and  developed  some  of  the  great  qualities  which  afterward  distin- 
guished his  illustrious  career. 

"In  August,  1861,  he  entered  the  Union  Army,  and  in  September 
following  was  commissioned  Colonel  of  the  Forty-second  Ohio  Infantry 
Volunteers.  He  was  promoted  successively  Brigadier  and  Major-General 
of  the  United  States  Volunteers,  and  while  yet  in  the  army  was  elected 
to  Congress,  remaining  in  the  field  more  than  a  year  after  his  election,  and 
resigning  only  in  time  to  take  his  seat  in  the  House,  December  7,  1863. 
His  military  service  secured  him  his  first  national  prominence.  He 
showed  himself  competent  to  command  in  the  field,  although  without 
previous  training.  He  could  plan  battles  and  fight  them  successfully. 
As  an  officer,  he  was  exceptionally  popular,  beloved  by  his  men,  many  of 
whom  were  his  former  students,  respected  and  honored  by  his  superiors  in 
rank,  and  his  martial  qualities  and  gallant  behavior  were  more  than  once 


i26  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

commended  in  general  orders  and  rewarded  by  the  Government  with  well- 
merited  promotion. 

"He  brought  to  this  wide  range  of  subjects  vast  learning  and  com- 
prehensive judgment.  He  enlightened  and  strengthened  every  cause  he 
advocated.  Great  in  dealing  with  them  all,  dull  and  commonplace  in 
none,  but  to  me  he  was  the  strongest,  broadest,  and  bravest  when  he  spoke 
for  honest  money,  the  fulfilment  of  the  nation's  promise,  the  resumption 
of  specie  payment^  and  the  maintenance  of  the  public  faith.  He  contrib- 
uted his  share,  in  full  measure,  to  secure  national  honesty  and  preserve 
inviolate  our  national  honor.  None  did  more,  few,  if  any,  so  much,  to 
bring  the  Government  back  to  a  sound,  stable,  and  constitutional  money. 
He  was  a  very  giant  in  those  memorable  struggles,  and  it  required  upon 
his  part  the  exercise  of  the  highest  courage.  A  considerable  element  of 
his  party  was  against  him,  notably  in  his  own  State  and  some  parts  of  his 
Congressional  district.  The  mad  passion  of  inflation  and  irredeemable 
currency  was  sweeping  through  the  West,  with  the  greatest  fury  in  his 
own  State.  He  was  assailed  for  his  convictions,  and  was  threatened  with 
defeat.  He  was  the  special  target  for  the  hate  and  prejudice  of  those  who 
stood  against  the  honest  fulfilment  of  national  obligations.  In  a  letter  to 
a  friend  on  New  Year's  eve,  i867-'68,  he  wrote: 

"  'I  have  just  returned  from  a  tedious  trip  to  Ashtabula,  where  I  made 
a  two  hours'  speech  upon  finance,  and  when  I  came  home,  came  through  a 
storm  of  paper-money  denunciation  in  Cleveland,  only  to  find  on  my  ar- 
rival here  a  sixteen-page  letter,  full  of  alarm  and  prophecy  of  my  political 
ruin  for  my  opinions  on  the  currency.' 

"To  the  same  friend  he  wrote  in  1878: 

"  'On  the  whole  it  is  probable  I  will  stand  again  for  the  House.  I 
am  not  sure,  however,  but  the  Nineteenth  District  will  go  back  upon  me 
upon  the  silver  question.  If  they  do,  I  shall  count  it  an  honorable  dis- 
charge.' 

"These  and  more  of  the  same  tenor,  which  I  might  produce  from  his 
correspondence,  show  the  extreme  peril  attending  his  position  upon  the 
currency  and  silver  questions,  but  he  never  flinched,  he  never  wavered ;  he 
faced  all  the  dangers,  assumed  all  the  risks,  voting  and  speaking  for  what 
he  believed  would  secure  the  highest  good.  He  stood  at  the  forefront, 
with  the  waves  of  an  adverse  popular  sentiment  beating  against  him, 
threatening  his  political  ruin,  fearlessly  contending  for  sound  principles 
of  finance  against  public  clamor  and  a  time-serving  policy.  To  me  his 
greatest  effort  was  made  on  this  floor  in  the  Forty-fifth  Congress,  from  his 
old  seat  yonder  near  the  center  aisle.  He  was  at  his  best.  He  rose  to  the 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  127 

highest  requirements  of  the  subject  and  the  occasion.  His  mind  and  soul 
were  absorbed  with  his  topic.  He  felt  the  full  responsibility  of  his  posi- 
tion and  the  necessity  of  averting  a  policy  (the  abandonment  of  specie 
resumption)  which  he  believed  would  be  disastrous  to  the  highest  interests 
of  the  country.  Unfriendly  criticism  seemed  only  to  give  him  breadth  of 
contemplation  and  boldness  and  force  of  utterance. 

"In  General  Garfield,  as  in  Lincoln  and  Grant,  we  find  the  best  repre- 
sentation of  the  possibilities  of  American  life.  Boy  and  man,  he  typifies 
American  youth  and  manhood,  and  illustrates  the  beneficence  and  glory 
of  our  free  institutions.  His  early  struggles  for  an  education,  his  self- 
support,  his  'lack  of  means,'  his  youthful  yearnings,  find  a  prototype  in 
every  city,  village,  and  hamlet  of  the  land. 

"His  broad  and  benevolent  nature  made  him  the  friend  of  all  man- 
kind. He  loved  the  young  men  of  the  country,  and  drew  them  to  him  by 
the  thoughtful  concern  with  which  he  regarded  them.  He  was  generous 
in  his  helpfulness  to  all,  and  to  his  encouragement  and  words  of  cheer 
many  are  indebted  for  much  of  their  success  in  life.  In  personal  char- 
acter he  was  clean  and  without  reproach.  As  a  citizen,  he  loved  his  coun- 
try and  her  institutions,  and  was  proud  of  her  progress  and  prosperity. 
As  a  scholar  and  a  man  of  letters,  he  took  high  rank.  As  an  orator,  he 
was  exceptionally  strong  and  gifted.  As  a  soldier,  he  stood  abreast  with 
the  bravest  and  best  of  the  citizen  soldiery  of  the  Republic.  As  a  legis- 
lator, his  most  enduring  testimonial  will  be  found  in  the  records  of  Con- 
gress and  the  statutes  of  his  country.  As  President,  he  displayed  modera- 
tion and  wisdom,  with  executive  ability  which  gave  the  highest  assurances 
of  a  most  successful  and  illustrious  administration. 

"Mr.  Speaker,  another  place  of  great  honor  we  fill  today.  Nobly  and 
worthily  is  it  filled.  Garfield,  whose  eloquent  words  I  have  just  pro- 
nounced, has  joined  Winthrop  and  Adams,  and  the  other  illustrious  ones, 
as  one  of  'the  elect  of  the  States,'  peopling  yonder  venerable  and  beautiful 
hall.  He  receives  his  high  credentials  from  the  hands  of  the  State  which 
has  withheld  from  him  none  of  her  honors,  and  history  will  ratify  the 
choice.  We  add  another  to  the  immortal  membership.  Another  enters 
'the  sacred  circle.'  In  silent  eloquence  from  the  'American  Pantheon' 
another  speaks,  whose  life-work,  with  its  treasures  of  wisdom,  its  wealth 
of  achievement,  and  its  priceless  memories,  will  remain  to  us  and  our 
descendants  a  precious  legacy,  forever  and  forever." 


128  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

McKlNLEY  TO  THE  GRAND  ARMY  VETERANS. 

President  Me-Kinley's  tribute  fb  the  veterans  of  the  Grand  Army  of 
the  Republic,  delivered  in  the  Metropolitan  Opera-house  at  New  York 
on  May  3Oth,  1889,  is  worthy  of  going  on  record  for  all  time.  It  is  beau- 
tiful in  sentiment  and  expressive  of  high  ideals : 

"The  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic  is  on  duty  today.  But  not  in  the 
service  of  arms.  The  storm  and  siege  and  bivouac  and  battle  line  have 
given  place  to  the  ministrations  of  peace  and  the  manifestations  of  affec- 
tionate regard  for  fallen  comrades,  in  which  the  great  body  of  the  people 
cheerfully  and  reverently  unite.  The  service  of  the  day  is  more  to  us — 
far  more  to  us — than  to  those  in  whose  memory  it  is  performed.  It 
means  nothing  to  the  dead,  everything  to  the  living.  It  reminds  us  of 
what  our  stricken  comrades  did  and  sacrificed  and  won.  It  teaches  us 
the  awful  cost  of  liberty  and  the  price  of  national  unity,  and  bids  us  guard 
with  sacred  and  sleepless  vigilance  the  great  and  immortal  work  which 
they  wrought. 

"The  annual  tribute  which  this  nation  brings  to  its  heroic  dead  is,  in 
part  at  least,  due  to  American  thought  and  conception,  creditable  to  the 
living  and  honorable  to  the  dead.  No  nation  in  the  world  has  so  honored 
her  heroic  dead  as  ours.  The  soldiery  of  no  country  in  the  world  have 
been  crowned  with  such  immortal  meed  or  received  at  the  hands  of  the 
people  such  substantial  evidences  of  national  regard. 

"Other  nations  have  decorated  their  great  captains  and  have  knighted 
their  illustrious  commanders.  Monuments  have  been  erected  to  perpetu- 
ate their  names.  Permanent  and  triumphal  arches  have  been  raised  to 
mark  their  graves.  Nothing  has  been  omitted  to  manifest  and  make  im- 
mortal their  valorous  deeds.  But  to  America  is  mankind  indebted  for  the 
loving  and  touching  tribute  this  day  performed,  which  brings  the  offer- 
ings of  affection  and  tokens  of  love  to  the  graves  of  all  our  soldier  dead. 

"We  not  only  honor  our  great  captains  and  illustrious  commanders, 
the  men  who  led  the  vast  armies  to  battle,  but  we  shower  equal  honors  in 
equal  measure  upon, all,  irrespective  of  rank  in  battle  or  condition  at  home. 
Our  gratitude  is  of  that  grand  patriotic  character  which  recognizes  no 
titles,  permits  no  discrimination,  subordinates  all  distinctions ;  and  the 
soldier,  whether  of  the  rank  and  file,  the  line  or  the  staff,  who  fought  and 
fell  for  Liberty  and  Union — all  who  fought  in  the  great  cause  and  have 
since  died,  are  warmly  cherished  in  the  hearts,  and  are  sacred  to  the 
memory  of  the  people. 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  129 

"Mr.  President,  from  the  very  commencement  of  our  Civil  War  we 
recognized  the  elevated  patriotism  of  the  rank  and  file  of  the  army  and 
their  unselfish  consecration  to  the  country,  while  subsequent  years  have 
only  served  to  increase  our  admiration  for  their  splendid  and  heroic  ser- 
vices. They  enlisted  in  the  army  with  no  expectation  of  promotion ;  not 
for  the  paltry  pittance  of  pay ;  not  for  fame  or  popular  applause,  for  their 
services,  however  efficient,  were  not  to  be  heralded  abroad. 

"They  entered  the  army  moved  by  the  highest  and  purest  motives  of 
patriotism,  that  no  harm  might  befall  the  Republic.  While  detracting 
nothing  from  the  fame  of  our  matchless  leaders,  we  know  that,  without 
that  great  army  of  volunteers,  the  citizen  soldiery,  the  brilliant  achieve- 
ments of  the  war  would  not  have  been  possible.  They,  my  fellow  citizens, 
were  the  great  power.  They  were  the  majestic  and  irresistible  force. 
They  stood  behind  the  strategic  commanders,  whose  intelligent  and  indi- 
vidual earnestness,  guided  by  their  genius,  gained  the  imperishable  vic- 
tories of  the  war. 

"I  would  not  withhold  the  most  generous  eulogy  from  conspicuous 
soldiers,  living  or  dead — from  the  leaders,  Grant,  Sherman,  Sheridan, 
Thomas,  Meade,  Hancock,  McClellan,  Hooker,  and  Logan — who  flame  out 
the  very  incarnation  of  soldierly  valor  and  vigor  before  the  eyes  of  the 
American  people,  and  have  an  exalted  rank  in  history,  and  fill  a  great 
place  in  the  hearts  of  their  countrymen.  We  need  not  fear,  my  fellow 
citizens,  that  the  great  captains  will  be  forgotten.  *  *  * 

"My  fellow  citizens,  the  rank  and  file  of  the  old  Regular  Army  was 
made  of  the  same  heroic  mold  as  our  Volunteer  Army.  It  is  a  recorded 
fact  in  history,  that  when  treason  swept  over  this  country  in  1861 — when 
distinguished  officers,  who  had  been  educated  at  the  public  expense,  who 
had  taken  the  oath  to  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  and 
defend  this  Government  against  all  its  enemies — when  they  proved  recre- 
ant to  trust  and  duty,  and  enlisted  under  the  banner  of  the  Confederacy, 
the  rank  and  file  of  that  old  army  stood  steadfast  to  Federal  authority, 
loyal  to  the  Federal  Government,  and  no  private  soldier  followed  his  old 
commander  into  the  ranks  of  the  enemy.  None  were  false  to  conscience 
or  to  country.  None  turned  their  backs  on  the  old  flag. 

"The  most  splendid  exhibition  of  devotion  to  country,  and  to  the 
Government,  and  the  flag,  was  displayed  also  by  our  prisoners  of  war. 
We  had  175,000  soldiers  taken  prisoners  during  the  Civil  War,  and  when 
death  was  stalking  within  the  walls  of  their  prisons,  when  starvation  was 
almost  overcoming  their  brave  hearts,  when  mind  was  receding  and  reason 


130  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

was  tottering,  liberty  was  offered  to  those  175,000  men  upon  one  condition 
— that  they  would  swear  allegiance  to  the  Confederate  Government,  and 
enlist  in  the  cause  of  the  Confederacy. 

"What  was  the  answer  of  our  brave  but  starving  comrades?  There 
could  be  but  one  answer.  They  preferred  to  suffer  all  and  to  bear  all 
rather  than  prove  false  to  the  cause  they  had  sworn  to  defend. 

"Now,  so  far  removed  from  the  great  war,  we  are  prone  to  forget  its 
disasters  and  underestimate  its  sacrifices.  Their  magnitude  is  best  appre- 
ciated when  contrasted  with  the  losses  and  sacrifices  of  other  armies  in 
other  times.  There  were  slain  in  the  late  war  nearly  6,000  commanding 
officers  and  over  90,000  enlisted  men,  and  207,000  died  of  disease  and 
from  exposure,  making  a  grand  total  of  303,000  men.  In  the  War  of  the 
Revolution  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain,  excluding  those 
captured  at  Yorktown  and  Saratoga,  the  whole  number  of  men  killed  and 
wounded  and  captured  of  the  combined  British  and  American  forces  was 
less  than  22,000.  We  witnessed  that  loss  in  a  single  battle  in  a  single  day 
in  the  great  Civil  War.  From  1775  to  1861,  including  all  the  foreign 
wars  in  which  we  were  engaged,  and  all  our  domestic  disturbances,  cover- 
ing a  period  of  nearly  twenty-four  years,  we  lost  but  ten  general  officers, 
while  in  the  four  and  a  half  years  of  the  late  war  we  lost  one  hundred 
and  twenty-five. 

"And,  my  fellow  citizens,  we  not  only  knew  little  of  the  scope  and 
proportions  of  that  great  war,  or  the  dreadful  sacrifice  to  be  incurred,  but 
as  little  knew  the  great  results  which  were  to  follow.  We  thought  at  the 
beginning,  and  we  thought  long  after  the  commencement  of  the  war,  that 
the  Union  to  be  saved  was  the  Union  as  it  was.  That  was  our  under- 
standing when  we  enlisted,  that  it  was  the  Constitution  and  the  Union — 
the  Constitution  as  it  was  and  the  Union  as  it  was — for  which  we  fought, 
little  heeding  the  teachings  of  history,  that  wars  and  revolutions  can  not 
fix  in  advance  the  boundaries  of  their  influence  or  determine  the  scope  of 
their  power.  History  enforces  no  sterner  lesson.  Our  own  Revolution 
of  1776  produced  results  unlocked  for  by  its  foremost  leaders.  Separation 
was  no  part  of  the  original  purpose.  Political  alienation  was  no  part  of 
the  first  plan.  Disunion  was  neither  thought  of  nor  accepted.  Why,  in 
1775,  on  the  5th  day  of  July,  in  Philadelphia,  when  the  Continental  Con- 
gress was  in  session  declaring  its  purposes  toward  Great  Britain,  what  did 
it  say  ?  After  declaring  that  it  would  raise  armies,  it  closed  that  declara- 
tion with  this  significant  language : 

"  'Lest  this  declaration  should  disquiet  the  minds  of  some  of  our 
friends  and  fellow  subjects  in  other  parts  of  the  Empire,  we  assure  them 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  131 

that  we  do  not  mean  to  dissolve  the  union  which  has  so  long  and  happily 
subsisted  between  us.' 

"Our  fathers  said  in  that  same  declaration  : 

"  'We  have  not  raised  armies  with  ambitious  designs  to  separate  from 
Great  Britain  and  establish  independent  States.' 

"Those  were  the  views  of  the  fathers.  Those  were  the  views  enter- 
tained by  the  soldiers  and  statesmen  of  colonial  days.  Why,  even  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  which  has  sounded  the  voice  of  liberty  to 
all  mankind,  was  a  shock  to  some  of  the  colonists.  The  cautious  and  con- 
servative, while  believing  in  its  eternal  truth,  doubted  its  wisdom  and  its 
policy.  It  was  in  advance  of  the  thought  of  the  great  body  of  the  people. 
Yet  it  stirred  a  feeling  for  independence,  and  an  aspiration  for  self-gov- 
ernment, which  made  a  republic  that  has  now  lived  more  than  a  century ; 
and  only  a  few  days  ago  you  were  permitted  to  celebrate  the  centennial 
inauguration  in  this  city  of  its  first  great  President. 

"Out  of  all  that  came  a  republic  that  stands  for  human  rights  and 
human  destiny,  which  today  represents  more  than  any  other  government 
the  glorious  future  of  the  human  race. 

"Comrades  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  those  were  brave 
men  whose  graves  we  decorated  today.  No  less  brave  were  those  whose 
chambers  of  repose  are  beneath  the  scarlet  fields  in  distant  States.  We  may 
say  of  all  of  them  as  was  said  of  Knights  of  St.  John  in  the  Holy  Wars :  'In 
the  forefront  of  every  battle  was  seen  their  burnished  mail,  and  in  the 
gloomy  rear  of  every  retreat  was  heard  their  voice  of  conscience  and  of 
courage.' 

"  'It  is  not,'  said  Mr.  Lincoln,  'what  we  say  of  them,  but  what  they 
did,  which  will  live.'  They  have  written  their  own  histories,  they  have 
builded  their  own  monuments.  No  poor  words  of  mine  can  enhance  the 
glory  of  their  deeds,  or  add  a  laurel  to  their  fame. 

"Liberty  owes  them  a  debt  which  centuries  of  tribute  and  mountains 
of  granite  adorned  by  the  master  hands  of  art  can  never  repay.  And  so 
long  as  liberty  lasts  and  the  love  of  liberty  has  a  place  in  the  hearts  of  men, 
they  will  be  safe  against  the  tooth  of  time  and  the  fate  of  oblivion. 

"The  nation  is  full  of  the  graves  of  the  dead.  You  have  but  a  small 
fraction  of  them  here  in  New  York,  although  you  contributed  one-tenth 
of  all  the  dead,  one-tenth  of  all  the  dying,  one-tenth  of  all  the  prisoners, 
one-tenth  of  all  the  sacrifices  in  that  great  conflict.  You  have  but  a  small 
number  here ;  the  greater  number  sleep  in  distant  States,  thousands  and 
tens  of  thousands  of  them  of  whom  there  is  no  record.  We  only  know 


132  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

that  fighting  for  freedom  and  union  they  fell,  and  that  the  place  where 
they  fell  was  their  sepulcher. 

"The  Omniscient  One  alone  knows  who  they  are  and  whence  they 
came.  But  when  their  immortal  names  are  called  from  their  silent  muster, 
when  their  names  are  spoken,  the  answer  will  come  back,  as  it  was  the 
custom  for  many  years  in  one  of  the  French  regiments  when  the  name 
of  De  la  Tour  d'Auvergne  was  called,  the  answer  came  back,  'Died  on  the 
field  of  honor.'  America  has  volumes  of  muster-rolls  containing  just  such 
*  record. 

"Mr.  President  and  comrades  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic, 
our  circle  is  narrowing  with  the  passing  years.  Every  annual  roll-call 
discloses  one  and  another  not  present,  but  accounted  for.  There  is  a 
muster-roll  OTer  yonder  as  well  as  a  muster-roll  here.  The  majority  of 
that  vast  army  are  fast  joining  the  old  commanders  who  have  preceded 
them  on  that  other  shore. 

"  'They  are  gone  who  seemed  so  great — 

Gone !  but  nothing  can  bereave  them 
Of  the  force  they  made  their  own 

Being  here ;  and  we  believe  them 
Something  far  advanced  in  state, 

And  that  they  wear  a  truer  crown 
Than  any  wreath  that  man  can  weave  them. 

Speak  no  more  of  their  renown, 
And  in  the  vast  cathedral  leave  them. 
God  accept  them ;  Christ  receive  them.'  " 

PRESIDENT  McKiNLEv's  EULOGY  ON  GRANT. 

On  the  27th  of  April,  1893,  President  McKinley  delivered  a  eulogy 
on  General  Grant  at  Galena,  the  occasion  being  the  Old  Commander's 
birthday.  Said  he: 

"We  are  not  a  nation  of  hero-worshipers.  Our  popular  favorites  are 
soon  counted.  With  more  than  a  hundred  years  of  national  life,  crowded 
with  great  events  and  marked  by  mighty  struggles,  few  of  the  great 
actors  have  more  than  survived  the  generation  in  which  they  lived.  Nor 
has  the  nation  or  its  people  been  ungenerous  to  its  great  leaders,  whether 
as  statesmen  or  soldiers.  The  Republic  has  dealt  justly,  and  I  believe 
liberally,  with  its  public  men.  Yet  less  than  a  score  of  them  are  remem- 
bered by  the  multitude,  and  the  student  of  history  only  can  call  many 
of  the  most  distinguished  but  now  forgotten  names. 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  133 

"How  few  can  recall  the  names  of  the  Presidents  of  the  United 
States  in  the  order  of  their  administrations;  fewer  still  can  name  the 
Governors  of  Illinois,  and  the  United  States  Senators  who  have  repre- 
sented this  State  in  that  great  legislative  body. 

"This  distinguished  citizen,  whose  life  we  commemorate,  and  the  an- 
niversary of  whose  birth  we  pause  to  celebrate  today,  was  born  at  Point 
Pleasant,  Clermont  County,  Ohio,  on  April  27,  1822.  His  early  life  was 
not  eventful.  It  did  not  differ  from  that  of  most  of  the  boys  of  his  time, 
and  gave  no  more  promise  than  that  of  the  multitude  of  youth  of  his  age 
and  station,  either  of  the  past  or  present.  Of  Scottish  descent,  he  sprang 
from  humble  but  industrious  parents,  and  with  faith  and  courage,  with  a 
will  and  mind  for  work,  he  confronted  the  problem  of  life. 

"At  the  age  of  17  he  was  sent  as  a  cadet  to  the  West  Point  Military 
Academy;  his  predecessor  having  failed  to  pass  the  necessary  examina- 
tion, the  vacancy  was  filled  by  the  appointment  of  young  Grant.  At  the 
Academy  he  was  marked  as  a  painstaking,  studious,  plodding,  persistent 
pupil,  who  neither  graduated  at  the  head  nor  the  foot  of  his  class,  but 
stood  number  twenty-one  in  a  class  of  thirty-nine. 

"His  rank  at  graduation  placed  him  in  the  infantry  arm  of  the  ser- 
vice, and  in  1843  he  was  commissioned  a  brevet  Second  Lieutenant  in  the 
Fourth  United  States  Regulars.  No  qualities  of  an  exceptional  nature 
showed  themselves  up  to  this  point  in  the  character  of  the  young  officer. 

"His  first  actual  experience  in  war  was  in  Mexico.  Here  he  dis- 
tinguished himself,  and  was  twice  mentioned  in  general  orders  for  his  con- 
spicuous gallantry.  He  was  twice  brevetted  by  the  President  of  the 
United  States  for  heroic  conduct  at  the  battles  of  Monterey,  Palo  Alto, 
Resaca  de  la  Palma,  Chapultepec  and  Molino  del  Rey.  After  the  war 
with  Mexico  he  was  stationed  with  his  regiment  on  the  Northern  frontier, 
and  subsequently  on  the  Pacific  coast  in  Oregon  and  California,  in  which 
latter  stations  he  saw  much  trying  service  with  the  Indians. 

"On  July  31,  1854,  he  resigned  his  commission  in  the  army,  after 
eleven  years'  service  therein — a  service  creditable  to  him  in  every  par- 
ticular, but  in  no  sense  so  marked  as  to  distinguish  him  from  a  score  of 
others  of  equal  rank  and  opportunity. 

"He  was  successful  from  the  very  beginning  of  his  military  com- 
mand. His  earliest,  like  his  later  blows,  were  tellingly  disastrous  to  the 
enemy.  First  at  Paducah,  then  defeating  Polk  and  Pillow  at  Belmont; 
again  at  Fort  Henry,  which  he  captured.  Then  he  determined  to  destroy 
Fort  Donels'on,  and  with  rare  coolness  and  deliberation  he  settled  himself 


134  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

down  to  the  task,  which  he  successfully  accomplished  on  February  16, 
1862. 

"After  two  days  of  severe  battle,  12,000  prisoners  and  their  belong- 
ings fell  into  his  hands,  and  the  victory  was  sweeping  and  complete.  He 
was  immediately  commissioned  Major  General  of  Volunteers,  in  recogni- 
tion of  his  brilliant  triumph,  and  at  once  secured  the  confidence  of  the 
President  and  trusting  faith  of  the  loyal  North,  while  the  men  at  the 
front  turned  their  eyes  hopefully  to  their  coming  commander. 

"His  famous  dispatch  to  General  Buckner,  who  had  proposed  com- 
missioners to  negotiate  for  capitulation — 'No  terms  except  an  uncondi- 
tional and  immediate  surrender  can  be  accepted;  I  propose  to  move  im- 
mediately upon  your  works' — electrified  the  country,  and  sent  cheer  to 
every  loyal  heart  at  home  and  to  the  brave  defenders  in  the  field.  It 
sounded  the  note  of  confidence  and  victory,  and  gave  to  the  Union  cause 
and  lovers  of  the  Union  new  and  fervent  hope.  It  breathed  conscious 
strength,  disclosed  immeasurable  reserve  power,  and  quickened  the  whole 
North  to  grander  efforts  and  loftier  patriotism  for  the  preservation  of  the 
Union. 

"On  March  17,  1864,  a  little  more  than  three  years  from  his  departure 
from  Galena,  where  he  was  drilling  your  local  company  as  a  simple  Cap- 
tain, Grant  assumed  the  control  of  all  the  Federal  forces,  wherever  located, 
and  in  less  than  fourteen  months  Lee's  army,  the  pride  and  glory  of  the 
Confederate  Government,  surrendered  to  the  victorious  soldier.  It  was 
not  a  surrender  without  resistance — skillful,  dogged  resistance.  It  was 
secured  after  many  battles  and  fierce  assaults,  accompanied  by  indescrib- 
able toil  and  suffering,  and  the  loss  of  thousands  of  precious  lives. 

"The  battles  of  the  Wilderness,  Spottsylvania,  North  Anna  and  Cold 
Harbor,  and  the  siege  of  Petersburg,  witnessed  the  hardest  fighting  and 
the  severest  sacrifices  of  the  war,  while  the  loss  of  brave  men  in  the 
trenches  was  simply  appalling.  The  historian  has  wearied  in  detailing 
them,  and  the  painter's  hand  has  palsied  with  reproducing  the  scenes  of 
blood  and  carnage  there  enacted. 

"General  Grant  not  only  directed  the  forces  in  front  of  Richmond, 
but  the  entire  line  of  operation  of  all  our  armies  was  under  his  skillful 
hand,  and  was  moved  by  his  masterful  mind.  The  entire  field  was  the 
theater  of  his  thought,  and  to  his  command  all  moved  as  a  symmetrical 
whole,  harmonious  to  one  purpose,  centering  upon  one  grand  design. 

"In  obedience  to  his  orders,  Sherman  was  marching,  fighting,  and 
winning  victories  with  his  splendid  army  in  Georgia,  extending  our  vie- 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  I3S 

torious  banners  fartlier  and  deeper  into  the  heart  of  the  Confederacy ;  and 
all  the  while  the  immortal  Thomas  was  engaging  the  enemy  in  another 
part  of  the  far-stretching  field,  diverting  and  defeating  the  only  army 
which  might  successfully  impede  the  triumphant  march  of  Sherman  to  the 
sea.  Sheridan,  of  whom  General  Grant  said  the  only  instruction  he  ever 
required  was  'to  go  in/  was  going  into  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  that  dis- 
puted field,  the  scene  of  Stonewall  Jackson's  fame. 

"Here  his  dashing  army,  driving  by  storm  and  strategy  the  de- 
termined forces  of  Early,  sent  them  whirling  back,  stripped  of  laurels 
previously  won,  without  either  their  artillery  or  battle-flags.  Schofield 
had  done  grand  work  at  Franklin,  and  later  occupied  Wilmington  and 
Goldsboro,  on  the  distant  seacoast,  with  a  view  to  final  connection  with 
Sherman.  These  movements,  and  more,  absorbed  the  mind  of  the  great 
commander. 

"The  liberal  terms  given  to  Lee  at  Appomattox  revealed  in  the  breast 
of  the  hard  fighter  a  soft  and  generous  heart.  He  wanted  no  vengeance ; 
he  had  no  bitterness  in  his  soul ;  he  had  no  hates  to  avenge.  He  believed 
in  war  only  as  a  means  of  peace.  His  large,  brave,  gentle  nature  made 
the  surrender  as  easy  to  his  illustrious  foe  as  was  possible.  He  said,  with 
the  broadest  humanity :  'Take  your  horses  and  side-arms,  all  of  your  per- 
sonal property  and  belongings,  and  go  home,  not  to  be  disturbed,  not  to 
be  punished  for  treason,  not  to  be  outcasts ;  but  go,  cultivate  the  fields 
whereon  you  fought  and  lost.  Yield  faithful  allegiance  to  the  old  flag 
and  the  restored  Union,  and  obey  the  laws  of  peace.' 

"Was  ever  such  magnanimity  before  shown  by  victor  to  vanquished  ? 
Here  closed  the  great  war,  and  with  it  the  active  military  career  of  the 
great  commander. 

"His  civil  administration  covered  eight  years — two  full  terms  as 
President  of  the  United  States.  This  new  exaltation  was  not  of  his  own 
asking.  He  preferred  to  remain  General  of  the  Army  with  which  he  had 
been  so  long  associated  and  in  which  he  had  acquired  his  great  fame. 

"The  country,  however,  was  determined  that  the  successful  soldier 
should  be  its  civil  ruler.  The  loyal  people  felt  that  they  owed  him  the 
highest  honors  which  the  nation  could  bestow,  and  they  called  him  from 
the  military  to  the  civil  head  of  the  Government.  His  term  commenced 
in  March,  1869,  and  ended  in  March,  1877.  It  constituted  one  of  the 
important  periods  of  our  national  life.  If  the  period  of  Washington's 
administration  involved  the  formation  of  the  Union,  that  of  Grant's  was 
confronted  with  its  reconstruction,  after  the  bitter,  relentless  internal 
struggle  to  destroy  it. 


I36  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

"It  was  a  most  delicate  era  in  which  to  rule.  It  would  have  been 
difficult,  embarrassing  and  hazardous  to  any  man,  no  matter  how  gifted, 
or  what  his  previous  preparation  or  equipment  might  have  been.  Could 
any  one  have  done  better  than  he?  We  will  not  pause  to  discuss.  Dif- 
ferent opinions  prevail,  and  on  this  occasion  we  do  not  enter  the  field  of 
controversy,  but,  speaking  for  myself,  I  believe  he  was  exactly  the  man 
for  the  place,  and  that  he  filled  to  its  full  measure  the  trust  to  which  his 
fellow  citizens  called  him. 

"He  committed  errors.  Who  could  "have  escaped  them,  at  such  a 
time  and  in  such  a  place?  He  stood  in  his  civil  station  battling  for  the 
legitimate  fruits  of  the  war,  that  they  might  be  firmly  secured  to  the  living 
and  to  their  posterity  forever.  His  arm  was  never  lifted  against  the 
right;  his  soul  abhorred  the  wrong.  His  veto  of  the  Inflation  bill,  his 
organization  of  the  Geneva  Arbitration  Commission  to  settle  the  claims 
of  the  United  States  against  England,  his  strong  but  conciliatory  foreign 
policy,  his  constant  care  to  have  no  policy  against  the  will  of  the  people, 
his  enforcement  of  the  Constitution  and  its  Amendments  in  every  part 
of  the  Republic,  his  maintenance  of  the  credit  of  the  Government  and  its 
good  faith  at  home  and  abroad,  marked  his  administration  as  strong,  wise, 
and  patriotic. 

"Great  and  wise  as  his  civil  administration  was,  however,  the  achieve- 
ments which  make  him  'one  of  the  immortal  few  whose  names  will  never 
die'  are  found  in  his  military  career.  Carping  critics  have  sought  to  mar 
it,  strategists  have  found  flaws  in  it,  but  in  the  presence  of  his  successive, 
uninterrupted,  and  unrivaled  victories,  it  is  the  idlest  chatter  which  none 
should  heed. 

"He  was  always  ready  to  fight.  If  beaten  today,  he  resumed  the 
battle  on  the  morrow,  and  his  pathway  was  all  along  crowned  with  vic- 
tories and  surrenders,  which  silence  criticism,  and  place  him  side  by  side 
with  the  mighty  soldiers  of  the  world. 

"With  no  disparagement  to  others,  two  names  rise  above  all  the  rest 
in  American  history  since  George  Washington — transcendently  above 
them.  They  are  Abraham  Lincoln  and  Ulysses  S.  Grant.  Each  will  be 
remembered  for  what  he  did  and  accomplished  for  his  race  and  for  man- 
kind. Lincoln  proclaimed 'liberty  to  four  million  slaves,  and  upon  his  act 
invited  'the  considerate  judgment  of  mankind  and  the  gracious  favor  of 
Almighty  God.'  He  has  received  the  warm  approval  of  the  one,  and  I 
am  sure  he  is  enjoying  the  generous  benediction  of  the  other.  His  was 
the  greatest,  mightiest  stroke  of  the  war.  Grand  on  its  humanity  side, 


The  Latest  Photograph  of  President  McKinley 

Taken  seventeen  minutes  before  the  President  was  shot.    John  G.  Milburn  sits  beside  the  President, 
Private  Secretary  Coitelyou  in  the  forward  seat.    They  were  en  route  to  Music  Hall. 


Tents  for  Military  Guards  a.nd  Reporters  opposite  the 
Milburn  Residence 


>* 

o  e 


2! 


W I LLI AM    M cKI N LEY.  141 

masterly  in  its  military  aspect,  it  has  given  to  his  name  an  imperishable 
place  among  men. 

"Grant  gave  irresistible  power  and  efficacy  to  the  Proclamation  of 
Liberty.  The  iron  shackles  which  Lincoln  declared  should  be  loosed 
from  the  limbs  and  souls  of  the  black  slaves,  Grant  with  his  matchless 
army  melted  and  destroyed  in  the  burning  glories  of  the  war;  and  the 
rebels  read  the  inspired  decree  in  the  flashing  guns  of  his  artillery,  and 
they  knew  what  Lincoln  had  decreed  Grant  would  execute. 

"He  had  now  filled  the  full  measure  of  human  ambition,  and  drunk 
from  every  fountain  of  earthly  glory.  He  had  commanded  mighty  legions 
upon  a  hundred  victorious  fields.  He  had  borne  great  responsibilities 
and  exercised  almost  limitless  power.  He  had  executed  every  trust  with 
fidelity,  and,  in  the  main,  with  consummate  skill.  He  had  controlled  the  s 
movement  of  a  larger  army  than  had  been  commanded  by  any  other  sol- 
dier, the  world  over,  since  the  invention  of  firearms. 

"He  was  made  General  of  the  United  States  Army  by  Congress  on 
July  25,  1866 — a  rank  and  title  never  given  to  an  American  soldier  before. 
He  had  won  the  lasting  gratitude  of  his  fellow  countrymen,  and  whenever 
or  wherever  he  went  among  them  they  crowned  him  with  fresh  manifesta- 
tions of  their  love  and  veneration — and  no  reverses  of  fortune,  no  errors 
of  judgment,  no  vexatious  and  unfortunate  business  complications  ever 
shook  their  trustful  confidence. 

"When  he  sought  rest  in  other  lands,  crowned  heads  stood  uncov- 
ered in  his  presence  and  laid  their  trophies  at  his  feet,  while  the  struggling 
toiler,  striving  for  a  larger  liberty,  offered  his  earnest  tribute  to  the  great 
warrior  who  had  made  liberty  universal  in  the  Republic.  Everywhere  he 
went  grateful  honors  greeted  him,  and  he  was  welcomed  as  no  American 
had  been  before.  He  girded  the  globe  with  his  renown  as  he  journeyed 
in  the  pathway  of  the  sun.  Nothing  of  human  longing  or  aspiration  re- 
mained unsatiated. 

"He  had  enjoyed  all  the  honors  which  his  lavish  countrymen  could 
bestow,  and  had  received  the  respectful  homage  of  foreign  nations. 

"His  private  life  was  beautiful  in  its  purity  and  simplicity.  No 
irreverent  oath  passed  his  lips,  and  his  conversation  was  as  chaste  and  un- 
affected as  that  of  simple  childhood.  His  relations  with  his  family  were 
tender  and  affectionate. 

"Only  a  few  years  ago,  in  one  of  his  journeys  through  the  South, 
when  he  was  receiving  a  great  ovation,  some  colored  men  crowded  his 
hotel  to  look  into  the  face  and  to  grasp  the  hand  of  their  great  deliverer. 


142  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

To  this  intrusion  objection  was  made,  and  the  colored  men  were  about 
to  be  ejected,  when  the  General  appeared,  and  in  his  quiet  way,  full  of 
earnest  feeling,  said :  'Where  I  am  they  shall  come  also.'  He  believed  in 
the  brotherhood  of  man — in  the  political  equality  of  all  men — he  had  se- 
cured that  with  his  sword,  and  was  prompt  to  recognize  it  in  all  places 
and  everywhere. 

'But,  my  friends,  Death  had  marked  him  for  a  victim.  He  fought 
Death  with  his  iron  will  and  his  old-time  courage,  but  at  last  yielded,  the 
first  and  only  time  the  great  soldier  was  ever  vanquished.  He  had  routed 
every  other  ice,  he  had  triumphed  over  every  other  enemy,  but  this  last 
one  conquered  him,  as  in  the  end  he  conquers  all. 

"He,  however,  stayed  his  fatal  hand  long  enough  to  permit  Grant  to 
finish  the  last  great  work  of  his  life — to  write  the  history  he  had  made. 
True,  that  history  had  been  already  written — written  in  blood,  in  the 
agony  of  the  dying  and  in  the  tears  of  the  suffering  Nation ;  written  in  the 
hearts  of  her  patriotic  people. 

"The  ready  pens  of  others  had  told  more  than  a  thousand  times  the 
matchless  story ;  the  artist  had,  a  hundred  times,  placed  upon  canvas  the 
soul-stirring  scenes  in  which  Grant  was  the  central  figure;  the  sculptor 
had  cut  its  every  phase  in  enduring  marble,  yet  a  kind  Providence  merci- 
fully spared  him  a  few  months  longer,  that  he  who  had  seen  it  and  directed 
it  should  sum  up  the  great  work  wrought  by  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Re- 
public under  his  magic  guidance.  He  was  not  an  old  man  when  he  died ; 
but,  after  all,  what  a  completed  life  was  his! 

"Mighty  events  and  mightier  achievements  were  never  crowded  into 
a  single  life  before,  and  he  lived  to  place  them  in  enduring  form,  to  be 
read  by  the  millions  living  and  the  millions  yet  unborn.  Then  laying 
down  his  pen,  he  bowed  resignedly  before  the  Angel  of  Death,  saying :  'If 
it  is  God's  providence  that  I  shall  go  now,  I  am  ready  to  obey  His  will 
without  a  murmur/ 

"Great  in  life,  majestic  in  death!  He  needs  no  monument  to  per- 
petuate his  fame;  it  will  live  and  glow  with  increased  luster  so  long  as 
liberty  lasts  and  the  love  of  liberty  has  a  place  in  the  hearts  of  men. 
Every  soldiers'  monument  throughout  the  North,  now  standing  or  here- 
after to  be  erected,  will  record  his  worth  and  work  as  well  as  those  of  the 
brave  men  who  fought  by  his  side.  His  most  lasting  memorial  will  be 
the  work  he  did,  his  most  enduring  monument  the  Union  which  he  and 
his  heroic  associates  saved,  and  the  priceless  liberty  they  secured. 

"Surrounded  by  a  devoted  family,  with  a  mind  serene  and  a  heart 
resigned,  he  passed  over  to  join  his  fallen  comrades  beyond  the  river,  on 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  143 

another  field  of  glory.  Above  him  in  his  chamber  of  sickness  and  death 
hung  the  portraits  of  Washington  and  Lincoln,  whose  disembodied  spirits 
in  the  Eternal  City  were  watching  and  waiting  for  him  who  was  to  com- 
plete the  immortal  trio  of  America's  first  and  best  loved ;  and  as  the  earthly 
scenes  receded  from  his  view,  and  the  celestial  appeared,  I  can  imagine 
those  were  the  first  to  greet  his  sight  and  bid  him  welcome. 

"We  are  not  a  nation  of  hero-worshipers.  We  are  a  nation  of  gen- 
erous freemen.  We  bow  in  affectionate  reverence  and  with  most  grate- 
ful hearts  to  these  immortal  names,  Washington,  Lincoln,  and  Grant,  and 
will  guard  with  sleepless  vigilance  their  mighty  work  and  cherish  their 
memories  evermore." 


CHAPTER  IX. 

PRESIDENT  MCKINLEY  AS  A  LAWYER — EARLY  FAME  AS  A  SPEAKER — 
PRESIDENT  HAYES'  ADVICE  TO  THE  YOUNG  POLITICIAN — McKiN- 
LEY'S  CAREER  IN  CONGRESS — THE  TARIFF  BILL — ELECTED  GOVERNOR 

OF  OHIO McKlNLEY  AT  THE  MINNEAPOLIS  CONVENTION — ELECTED 

TO  THE  PRESIDENCY — His  ADMINISTRATION. 


Doubtless  Major  McKinley  would  have  attained  eminence  in  the 
law  had  not  politics  early  attracted  him.  Yet  he  pursued  the  law  with  the 
same  fidelity  that  had  marked  his  every  undertaking  and  he  achieved  not 
merely  success  but  popularity  at  the  bar.  One  of  his  cases  long  remem- 
bered was  when  he  was  pitted  against  John  McSweeney,  then  considered 
one  of  the  most  brilliant  lawyers  of  the  Ohio  bar.  The  case  was  a  suit 
for  damages  for  malpractice,  the  plaintiff  charging  that  a  surgeon  had  set 
his  broken  leg  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  him  bow-legged  on  that  side. 
McKinley  defended  the  surgeon.  McSweeney  brought  his  client  into 
court  and  had  the  injured  limb  exposed  to  the  view  of  the  jury.  It  was 
very  crooked,  and  the  case  looked  bad  for  the  surgeon.  McKinley  had 
both  his  eyes  wide  open,  however,  and  fixed  them  to  good  purpose  on 
the  man's  other  leg.  As  soon  as  the  witness  was  turned  over  to  him,  he 
asked  that  the  other  leg  should  also  be  bared.  The  plaintiff  and  Mc- 
Sweeney vigorously  objected,  but  the  judge  ordered  it  done.  Then  it 
appeared  that  this  second  leg  was  still  more  crooked  than  that  which  the 
surgeon  had  set. 

"My  client  seems  to  have  done  better  by  this  man  than  nature  itself 
did,"  said  McKinley,  "and  I  move  that  the  suit  be  dismissed  with  a  rec- 
ommendation to  the  plaintiff  that  he  have  the  other  leg  broken  and  then 
set  by  the  surgeon  who  set  the  first  one." 

HE  ENTERS  POLITICS. 

As  an  advocate  he  was  remarkably  successful,  and  in  the  preparation 
of  his  cases  he  had  few  superiors,  becoming  noted  for  the  thoroughness 
and  care  with  which  he  did  his  work.  He  was  noted  also  for  the  bril- 
liancy and  effectiveness  of  his  speaking  and  was  already  in  much  demand 
in  his  party.  Even  in  the  early  days  he  was  so  eagerly  sought  that  fre- 

144 


WILLIAM    McKlNLEY.  145 

quently  he  spoke  oftener  in  his  own  district  and  county  than  the  candi- 
dates on  the  ticket. 

Stark  County,  where  he  had  opened  his  office,  was  one  of  the  banner 
Democratic  counties  of  the  State,  and  when,  in  1869,  he  was  put  forward 
by  his  party  for  District  Attorney  the  nomination  was  regarded  as  an 
empty  honor.  Perhaps  that  was  why  it  was  given  to  so  young  and  inex- 
perienced a  man.  But,  however  the  convention  and  the  public  considered 
it,  McKinley  took  it  seriously.  He  made  a  vigorous  canvass  of  the  county, 
and  to  the  amazement  of  everybody  he  was  elected.  At  the  end  of  his 
two  years'  term  he  was  renominated,  and  though  defeated,  kept  his  oppo- 
nent's majority  down  to  forty-five  where  it  had  usually  been  several  hun- 
dred. But  he  had  won  much.  He  had  attracted  attention  to  his  ability 
as  a  successful  campaigner,  and  his  law  practice  greatly  improved. 

This  was  the  beginning  of  McKinley's  political  career.  But  througn- 
out  this  period  and  until  his  election  to  Congress  in  1876,  he  was  devoted 
to  the  law,  and  built  up  a  lucrative  practice.  As  a  persuasive  advocate 
before  a  jury  he  had  no  superior  in  Canton,  and  his  thorough  preparation 
and  eloquence  won  many  important  cases. 

The  State  campaign  in  1875  was  one  that  attracted  national  atten- 
tion, the  nominees  for  Governor  were  Rutherford  B.  Hayes  and  William 
Allen.  The  greenback  craze  was  at  its  height.  McKinley  entered  the 
campaign  with  his  usual  energy  and  made  many  speeches  for  honest 
money  and  the  resumption  of  specie  payments.  During  the  campaign 
Stewart  L.  Woodford,  of  New  York,  spoke  at  Canton.  McKinley,  much 
against  his  will,  was  called  on  for  a  speech  at  the  close  of  the  meeting. 
Animated  by  the  eloquence  of  their  distinguished  visitor,  the  young  man 
captured  both  his  audience  and  the  visiting  orator. 

EARLY  FAME  AS  SPEAKER. 

He  made  such  an  impression  on  Mr.  Woodford  that  he  urged  the 
State  Committee  to  put  McKinley  on  the  list  of  speakers.  They  had  not 
heard  of  him  in  that  capacity  before,  but  they  put  him  on  the  list  and  he 
was  never  off  it  till  his  death. 

The  following  year  ( 1876)  was  not  a  promising  one  for  a  budding 
_-epublican  politician.  The  party  had  suffered  defeat,  the  greenback 
theory  was  ravaging  everything  and  there  was  a  general  demoralized 
condition.  Nevertheless,  McKinley  chose  this  time  to  seek  election  to 
Congress.  He  had  stumped  the  States  for  Hayes  for  Governor  the  pre- 
ceding year,  and  had  gained  considerable  reputation  as  a  public  speaker. 
Still  the  veteran  politicians  shook  their  heads  doubtfully  when  he  was 
announced  as  a  candidate  for  the  Republican  nomination  for  Congress. 


I46      •  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

But  he  was  nominated  by  the  convention  on  the  first  ballot,  and  was  elected 
by  3,300  majority. 

While  the  canvass  was  going  on  he  visited  the  Centennial  Exposition, 
at  Philadelphia.  He  was  introduced  by  James  G.  Elaine  to  the  great 
audience  which  Elaine  had  been  addressing  at  the  Union  League  Club 
and  he  scored  such  a  remarkable  success  that  he  was  at  once  in  demand 
throughout  the  country.  He  afterward  spoke  hundreds  of  times  in 
almost  every  State  and  Territory  and  to  more  people  than  ever  were 
addressed  by  any  other  public  man  in  the  history  of  the  Republic.  An 
unbiased  review  of  his  life  leaves  the  impression  that  he  never  failed  to 
meet  expectations  or  to  benefit  the  cause  he  advocated. 

McKinley  was  a  protege  of  ex-President  Hayes,  and  up  to  the  time 
of  the  latter's  death  he  recognized  the  ex-President  as  his  adviser  and 
counselor.  He  was  in  General  Hayes'  regiment  during  the  Rebellion. 
General  Hayes  knew  him  and  his  father  well.  He  needed  a  counselor, 
an  adviser,  a  friend,  and  General  Hayes  watched  over  him  with  the  love, 
devotion  and  pride  of  a  father. 

PRESIDENT  HAYES'  ADVICE. 

He  entered  Congress  on  the  day  that  his  old  friend,  Colonel  Hayes, 
became  President.  He  was  a  frequent  and  welcome  visitor  at  the  White 
House.  One  day  the  President  gave  McKinley  advice,  which  made  him 
the  foremost  champion  of  a  protective  tariff.  President  Hayes  thus  spoke 
to  him : 

"To  achieve  success  and  fame  you  must  pursue  a  special  line.  You 
must  not  make  a  speech  on  every  motion  offered  or  bill  introduced.  You 
must  confine  yourself  to  one  particular  thing.  Become  a  specialist.  Take 
up  some  branch  of  legislation  and  make  that  your  study.  Why  not  take 
up  the  subject  of  tariff?  Being  a  subject  that  will  not  be  settled  for  years 
to  come,  it  offers  a  great  field  for  study  and  a  chance  for  ultimate  fame." 

With  these  words  ringing  in  his  ears  McKinley  began  studying  the 
tariff,  and  soon  became  the  foremost  authority  of  the  time  on  the  subject. 
April  15,  1878,  he  made  a  speech  on  what  was  known  as  the  Wood  tariff 
bill,  the  bill  being  brought  in  by  Fernando  Wood,  of  New  York.  Mc- 
Kinley opposed  it  so  effectively  that,  although  the  House  was  Democratic, 
the  measure  was  postponed  and  finally  abandoned  altogether.  The  speech 
was  published  and  widely  circulated  by  the  Republican  Congressional 
Committee. 

FIGHTING  GERRYMANDERS. 

The  Democrats  recognized  him  as  a  man  who  would  be  dangerous  to 
their  party  if  he  were  allowed  to  keep  on  in  politics.  Having  control  of 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  147 

the  Legislature  in  Ohio,  they  proceeded  to  gerrymander  the  State,  so 
that  when  McKinley  sought  re-election,  he  found  himself  in  a  district 
normally  Democratic  by  at  least  1,800.  Nothing  daunted,  he  entered  the 
campaign  and  was  successful  by  a  majority  of  1,300. 

Then  the  former  district  lines  were  restored,  and  he  was  easily  re- 
turned for  his  third  and  fourth  terms.  The  Democratic  fears  concerning 
him  were  now  realized.  He  was  by  this  time  one  of  the  leading  Repub- 
licans in  the  House,  and  one  of  those  who  were  doing  most  for  the  lasting 
supremacy  of  that  party  and  the  lasting  discomfiture  of  the  Democrats. 
So,  getting  possession  of  the  Ohio  Legislature  again  in  1884,  they  gerry- 
mandered the  State  the  second  time  with  the  express  purpose  of  keeping 
McKinley  at  home.  They  put  him,  as  they  thought,  in  a  district  which 
would  be  surely  Democratic  by  from  1,200  to  1,500. 

But  the  people  of  eastern  Ohio  re-elected  him  for  his  fifth  term  by 
over  2,000  majority.  Sixth  and  seventh  terms  followed  as  a  matter  of 
course.  Then  the  State  was  a  third  time  gerrymandered.  McKinley  was 
put  into  a  district  which  had  the  year  before  given  a  Democratic  plurality 
of  2,900.  He  accepted  the  challenge,  made  a  gallant  fight,  and  was  de- 
feated by  only  302  votes.  It  is  interesting  to  recall,  in  view  of  this  one 
defeat,  that  McKinley  had  been  some  years  before  twitted  in  Congress 
by  Mr.  Springer,  on  having  been  returned  at  the  nrevious  election  b"  a 
somewhat  diminished  majority. 

Mr.  Springer  said :  "Your  constituents  do  not  seem  Lo  support  you." 
McKinley  replied :  "My  fidelity  to  my  constituents  is  not  measured  by  the 
support  they  give  me.  I  have  convictions  which  I  would  not  surrender 
if  10,000  majority  had  been  entered  against  me." 

McKiNLEv's  CAREER  IN  CONGRESS. 

To  tell  the  story  of  McKinley's  seven  terms  in  Congress  would  be  to 
tell  the  history  of  that  body  and  well-nigh  of  the  nation  for  fourteen  years. 
From  the  beginning  he  was  active  and  conspicuous.  His.  speech  against 
the  repeal  of  the  Federal  election  laws  in  April,  1879,  was  considered  of 
such  value  that  it  was  issued  as  a  campaign  document  by  the  Republican 
National  Committee  the  two  following  years.  In  1880  he  was  chairman 
of  the  Republican  State  Convention  of  Ohio.  He  was  recognized  by 
Speaker  Randall  with  a  place  on  the  Judiciary  Committee  in  this  year, 
and  in  1880  succeeded  President  Garfield  as  a  member  of  the  Ways  and 
Means  Committee,  an  honor  that  came  to  him  unsought  and  was  repeatedly 
given  to  him  until  the  termination  of  his  congressional  career  in  1891.  He 
was  chosen  by  the  Chicago  convention  as  an  Ohio  member  of  the  Re- 
publican National  Committee  and  accompanied  Garfield  on  his  speaking 


i48  WILLIAM    Me  KIN  LEY. 

tour  through  New  York.     He  also  spoke  in  this  State  and  other  States 
east  and  west. 

The  Forty-seventh  Congress,  acting  on  the  recommendation  of  Presi- 
dent Arthur,  appointed  a  commission  to  revise  the  tariff.  McKinley  did 
not  give  unqualified  approval  to  this  commission,  preferring  that  Con- 
gress should  do  the  work,  but  he  insisted  that  the  protective  policy  should 
not  be  abandoned.  In  the  elections  of  1882,  which  occurred  while  the 
tariff  commission  was  still  holding  its  session,  the  Republicans  were  gen- 
erally defeated.  McKinley  was  elected  only  by  the  narrow  margin  of 
eight  votes  over  his  Democratic  competitor.  At  the  short  session  which 
followed  the  report  of  the  tariff  commission  was  submitted,  and  on  this 
the  Ways  and  Means  Committee  introduced  a  bill  reducing  the  duties 
about  20  per  cent. 

McKinley  supported  this  measure.  It  failed.  In  the  following  year 
he  delivered  one  of  the  most  effective  addresses  against  the  Morrison 
tariff  bill.  In  the  same  year  he  presided  over  the  Ohio  Republican  State 
Convention.  He  was  a  Elaine  man,  and  did  much  to  further  his  nomina- 
tion to  the  Presidency.  He  accompanied  Elaine  on  his  celebrated  tour, 
speaking  constantly  with  him  from  the  same  car  or  platform. 

In  the  State  campaigns  fromxi88i  to  1887  he  was  on  the  stump  in 
all  parts  of  Ohio.  In  the  Forty-ninth  Congress,  in  1886,  he  made  a 
notable  speech  on  arbitration  as  the  best  means  of  settling  labor  disputes. 
In  1886,  when  the  statue  of  Garfield  was  presented  to  Statuary  Hall,  at  the 
Capitol,  he  delivered  a  memorial  address.  In  1887  he  delivered  a  mem- 
orial address  on  General  John  A.  Logan,  much  admired  for  its  beauty  and 
tenderness.  He  advocated  the  passage  of  the  dependent  pension  bill  over 
President  Cleveland's  veto. 

President  Cleveland's  third  annual  message,  in  December,  1887,  made 
a  strong  assault  on  the  tariff  system.  It  was  followed  by  the  Mills  bill 
in  the  House.  On  this  there  was  remarkable  debate.  It  proved  to  be  the 
great  opportunity  of  McKinley's  congressional  life.  While  the  bill  was 
under  consideration  he  came  from  Washington  to  Canton  and  delivered 
an  address  before  the  Ohio  State  Grange  on  the  subject  raised  by  Presi- 
dent Cleveland's  message  and  the  Mills  bill.  Immediately  thereafter  he 
delivered  a  remarkable  address  before  the  Home  Market  Club,  at  Boston. 
April  2d  he  presented  to  the  House  the  minority  report  of  the  Ways  and 
Means  Committee  on  the  tariff  bill.  His  speech  at  the  close  of  the  general 
debate  was  described  at  the  time  as  the  most  effective  and  eloquent  tariff 
speech  ever  heard  in  Congress.  Many  of  his  statements  as  to  the  effects 
of  the  legislation  were  so  cogent  and  conclusive  that  the  bill  was  amended 
in.  many  particulars  that  he  suggested. 


Scene  at  the  Death-Bed  of  President  McKinley. 


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WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  149 

THE  McKiNLEY  TARIFF  BILL. 

At  the  Ohio  convention  in  1888  McKinley  was  elected  a  delegate-at- 
large  to  the  Republican  National  Convention^  where  he  was  chairman  of 
the  Committee  on  Resolutions.  Here  he  made  an  effective  stand  against  a 
sentiment  that  spoke  of  him  for  the  Presidency,  declaring  his  loyalty  to 
Sherman.  Many  of  his  friends  believed  that  the  speech  then  cost  him  the 
Presidency.  In  the  campaign  of  1889  he  was  active  as  usual,  and  on 
the  organization  of  ihe  Fifty-first  Congress  resumed  his  place  on  the 
Ways  and  Means  Committee,  to  the  head  of  which  he  succeeded  on  the 
death  of  Judge  Kelley.  This  brought  him  into  the  leadership  of  the 
House.  December,  1889,  he  introduced  the  first  important  tariff  measure 
of  the  session.  It  passed  the  House  late  in  the  session,  and  became  a  law 
in  June,  1890.  It  is  known  as  the  customs  administration  bill.  In  April, 
1890,  he  introduced  the  general  tariff  measure  which  has  become  known 
as  the  McKinley  bill.  For  four  months  it  had  been  under  consideration 
by  the  Ways  and  Means  Committee,  during  which  time  hearings  had  been 
given  to  manufacturers,  laborers,  merchants,  farmers,  agents  and  factors. 
McKinley's  speech  in  support  of  the  measure  fully  sustained  his  great 
reputation  as  an  orator,  and  as  a  dispassionate  advocate.  The  ovation, 
for  such  it  was,  that  greeted  him  when  he  had  concluded,  has  hardly  been 
surpassed  in  the  annals  of  Congress.  Demanding  an  immediate  vote,  he 
declared : 

"With  me  this  position  is  a  deep  conviction,  not  a  theory.  I  believe 
in  it  and  thus  warmly  advocate  it  because  enveloped  in  it  are  my  country's 
highest  development  and  greatest  prosperity.  Out  of  it  comes  the  great- 
est gain  to  the  people,  the  greatest  comfort  to  the  masses,  the  widest 
encouragement  of  manly  aspirations  with  the  largest  reward  dignifying 
and  elevating  our  citizenship,  on  which  the  safety,  purity  and  permanency 
of  our  political  system  depend." 

The  bill  passed  the  House  after  some  amendments,  among  them  the 
reciprocity  amendment  proposed  by  the  Senate  and  which  Mr.  McKinley 
had  supported  before  the  House  Committee. 

Mr.  William  E.  Curtis,  who  was  then  secretary  of  the  Bureau  of  the 
American  Republic,  has  given  the  following  history  of  the  reciprocity 
movement. 

"The  Pan-American  conference  had  the  question  under  discussion 
while  the  House  Committee  on  Ways  and  Means  was  framing  the  present 
tariff  laws  and  adopted  a  report  written  by  Mr.  Romero,  of  Mexico,  rec- 
ommending the  adoption  of  reciprocity  among  American  nations  so  far 
as  could  be  done  without  impairing  their  necessary  revenues.  On  Feb- 


ISO  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

ruary  10,  1880,  Mr.  Elaine  met  the  House  Committee  in  Mr.  McKinley's 
rooms  at  the  Ebbitt  House.  He  explained  the  situation  and  asked  the 
committee  not  to  disturb  the  duties  on  merchandise  from  South  America. 

"They  did  not  follow  his  suggestion,  but  prepared  their  bill  without 
regard  to  the  conference.  When  Mr.  Elaine  found  that  it  was  proposed 
to  remove  the  duty  on  sugar,  he  sent  me  to  Mr.  McKinley  with  a  propo- 
sition which  he  wanted  added  to  the  bill  as  an  amendment.  It  afterward 
became  known  as  the  Hale  amendment.  It  provided  that  the  President 
should  be  authorized  to  take  off  the  duty  on  sugar  whenever  the  sugar 
producing  nations  removed  their  duties  on  our  farm  products  and  certain 
other  articles. 

"Mr.  McKinley  presented  this  amendment  to  the  Committee  on  Ways 
and  Means.  It  was  not  adopted.  Mr.  McKinley  voted  for  it  the  first 
time  it  was  presented.  Then  a  second  proposition  containing  some  modi- 
fications was  presented,  and  Mr.  McKinley  voted  for  that,  as  he  voted 
for  the  Elaine  reciprocity  amendment  every  time  it  was  submitted,  in 
whatever  form." 

The  McKinley  tariff  bill  received  the  approval  of  the  President  in 
October,  1890.  When  the  general  election  occurred  the  following  month 
the  Republicans  met  with  not  unexpected  defeat.  McKinley's  own  dis- 
trict had  this  time  been  so  gerrymandered  that  he  had  a  majority  of 
3,000  to  overcome.  In  the  short  time  between  the  ending  of  the  session 
of  Congress  and  the  election,  he  made  one  of  the  remarkable  campaigns 
in  the  history  of  the  country,  attracting  almost  as  much  national  attention 
as  the  noted  Lincoln-Douglass  debate  in  Illinois  thirty-two  years  before. 
He  was  defeated,  but  still  he  ran  at  the  head  of  his  ticket,  exceeding  by 
1,250  votes  that  of  Harrison  in  the  previous  Presidential  campaign,  and 
came  within  300  of  being  elected. 

Is  ELECTED  GOVERNOR  OF  OHIO. 

The  short  session  of  Congress  that  followed  attracted  little  attention, 
but  McKinley  attracted  great  attention,  and  his  nomination  for  Governor 
began  to  assume  the  shape  of  a  popular  movement.  When  it  was  known 
that  he  would  accept,  he  was  nominated  by  acclamation  at  the  State  Re- 
publican Convention  in  June,  1891.  Meanwhile,  his  many  speeches  and 
addresses  continually  added  to  his  reputation  both  as  an  orator  and  as  a 
man  of  national  dimensions.  In  Congress  he  spoke  and  voted  for  the 
eight-hour  law ;  he  advocated  the  direct  tax  refunding  law,  anti-trust  law, 
and  presented  and  advised  the  adoption  of  the  resolution  declaring  that 
the  new  tariff  should  not  invalidate  our  treaty  with  Hawaii. 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  151 

In  December  he  responded  to  the  toast,  "New  England  and  the  Fu- 
ture," at  the  New  England  dinner  at  Philadelphia.  At  the  Lincoln  ban- 
quet at  Toledo  in  February,  1891,  attacking  President  Cleveland's  speech 
on  American  citizenship,  he  formulated  the  phrase  that  "cheap  coats  meant 
cheap  men." 

He  was  popular  with  the  old  soldiers  everywhere  and  spoke  at  na- 
tional encampments  in  this  city,  at  San  Francisco,  at  Pittsburg  and  at 
Washington.  In  his  speech  accepting  his  first  nomination  for  Governor, 
he  declared  that  the  public  credit  and  sound  finances  must  be  preserved 
even  at  the  risk  of  defeat,  which  could  only  be  temporary,  advising  this 
rather  than  a  capitulation  to  the  demagogue  or  a  surrender  of  honesty. 
He  opened  his  Ohio  campaign  in  August  and  before  the  election  he  made 
one  hundred  and  thirty-four  speeches,  visiting  all  of  the  eighty-eight 
counties  of  Ohio.  His  opponent,  Governor  Campbell,  was  an  able  man 
and  they  once  met  in  joint  debate.  McKinley  won  the  election  by  21,500 
votes ;  Campbell  had  previously  been  elected  by  a  plurality  of  11,000. 

McKiNLEY  AT  MINNEAPOLIS. 

Soon  after  his  inauguration  as  Governor  a  campaign  for  him  as 
President  began,  but  to  every  suggestion  he  replied  that  he  believed  Gen- 
eral Harrison  was  justly  entitled  to  another  term  and  that  he  was  for  him. 
He  was  again  elected  as  a  delegate-at-large  for  Ohio  to  the  national  con- 
vention, and  by  that  body  made  permanent  chairman.  Some  of  his  friends 
persisted  in  urging  his  name,  but  he  steadfastly  refused  assent.  When 
the  ballot  was  taken,  however,  two  votes  in  the  Ohio  delegation  were 
cast  for  him.  He  at  once  challenged  the  vote  from  the  chair  and  put 
himself  on  record  for  Harrison,  who  on  the  entire  roll  call  received  535 
votes,  yet  McKinley  nevertheless  received  182  votes,  precisely  the  num- 
ber that  Elaine  received.  Leaving  the  chair,  McKinley  moved  to  make  the 
nomination  unanimous.  It  was  apparent  in  this  convention  that  the  affec- 
tions of  the  party  were  centered  on  him  as  a  Presidential  candidate.  One 
delegate,  with  much  frank  effectiveness,  in  the  course  of  his  speech  said: 
"Never  you  mind,  William  McKinley ;  you're  doing  right  now,  but  we  are 
going  to  make  you  President  next  time,"  a  sentiment  that  drew  forth  vast 
applause. 

He  was  chairman  of  the  committee  that  notified  the  President  of  his 
renomination,  June  2oth,  and  from  that  time  until  the  campaign  closed 
he  was  more  busily  engaged  perhaps  than  any  other  national  party  leader. 
His  principal  addresses  of  the  time  were  at  Ann  Arbor,  before  a  national 
convention  of  college  clubs;  before  the  Nebraska  Chautauqua  on  "The 
Triumph  of  Protection,"  and  in  Philadelphia  on  "The  Issues  of  1892." 


i52  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

With  Harrison's  defeat  the  people  seemed  to  have  repudiated  to  a  degree 
the  doctrine  of  protection,  for  which  McKinley  then  stood  pre-eminently. 
But  he  lost  neither  courage  nor  confidence.  He  declared  that  protection 
was  never  stronger.  In  1893  at  the  Lincoln  banquet  at  Columbus  he 
declared  that  the  defeat  of  1892  "had  not  made  Republican  principles  less 
true  nor  our  faith  in  their  ultimate  triumph  less  firm."  In  this  year  his 
address  at  Galena,  111.,  on  the  seventy-first  anniversary  of  the  birth  of 
Grant  and  his  memorial  address  on  President  Hayes  at  Delaware  were 
both  much  admired  for  their  research  and  beauty. 

At  the  next  Republican  convention  in  1893  he  was  unanimously  re- 
nominated  for  Governor,  and  after  an  exhaustive  canvass  was  re-elected 
by  80,995,  the  greatest  plurality  (with  a  single  exception  during  the  war) 
that  had  ever  been  given  up  to  that  time  in  the  history  of  the  State.  The 
country  reviewed  this  result  as  an  indication  of  what  would  follow  next 
in  national  politics,  and  he  was  everywhere  looked  on  as  the  most  promi- 
nent Republican  candidate  for  the  Presidency. 

His  second  annual  message  as  Governor  ranks  high  among  such 
papers.  In  February,  1894,  he  delivered  an  address  on  the  life  and  pub- 
lic service  of  Washington  at  Chicago,  which  attracted  wide  attention.  Be- 
ginning in  September  of  that  year,  at  Bangor,  Me.,  he  was  continually 
on  the  stump  throughout  the  country  for  two  months.  The  Wilson-Gor- 
man tariff  law  had  just  been  enacted,  and  he  made  it  the  chief  subject  of 
his  speeches.  In  that  city,  September  26th,  he  was  introduced  by  General 
Harrison  on  the  opening  of  the  campaign,  with  these  words:  "Major 
McKinley  has  endeared  himself  to  all  by  his  record  as  a  gallant  soldier 
battling  for  the  flag.  He  has  honored  himself,  his  State  and  the  country 
by  his  conspicuous  services  in  high  legislative  and  executive  places.  No 
man  more  than  he  is  familiar  with  the  questions  that  now  engage  public 
thought ;  no  man  is  more  able  than  he  lucidly  to  set  them  before  the  people. 
I  do  not  need  to  invoke  your  attention  to  what  he  shall  say ;  he  will  com- 
mand it." 

After  opening  the  State  campaign  in  Ohio  he  made  a  series  of  speeches 
throughout  the  West,  again  proving  himself  to  be  one  of  the  most  remark- 
able of  campaigners.  Traveling  in  special  trains,  he  frequently  spoke  a 
half-dozen  times  a  day  and  three  or  four  times  at  night.  In  Wisconsin 
he  spoke  twenty-three  times  in  sixteen  hours.  For  over  eight  weeks  he 
averaged  seven  speeches  a  day,  ranging  in  length  from  ten  minutes  to 
an  hour.  He  traveled  more  than  16,000  miles  and  addressed  more  than 
two  million  people.  At  every  point  he  visited  his  party  was  successful, 
carrying  the  lower  branch  of  Congress,  largely  on  the  impetus  that  he 
gave  to  the  campaign,  by  more  than  a  two-thirds  majority. 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  153 

During  the  following  winter  his  duties  as  Governor  of  Ohio  were 
arduous.  At  one  time  seven  thousand  people  were  out  of  food  in  the 
Hocking  Valley.  By  appeals  to  the  people  he  succeeded  in  raising  suf- 
ficient to  meet  the  case  by  voluntary  contributions.  Several  serious  out- 
breaks occurred  during  this  administration,  at  one  time  requiring  the 
presence  of  three  thousand  of  the  National  Guard,  and  entailing  an  ex- 
pense of  $60,000. 

During  this  time  he  delivered  notable  addresses  in  various  parts  of 
the  country,  among  them  an  oration  on  Grant  at  his  tomb  in  Riverside 
Park  on  Memorial  Day.  In  the  ensuing  political  canvass  he  confined 
himself  to  Ohio,  where  his  party  for  the  first  time  in  thirty  years  suc- 
ceeded in  electing  both  United  States  Senators. 

Is  ELECTED  PRESIDENT. 

After  his  term  as  Governor  he  returned  to  Canton,  where  he  remained 
for  the  next  six  months,  excepting  for  a  visit  to  Chicago,  where  he  deliv- 
ered an  address  on  Lincoln,  in  February  of  1896.  In  this  address,  taking 
Lincoln's  views  on  the  tariff  as  the  text,  he  stated  what  in  his  opinion 
should  constitute  the  Republican  platform  in  the  coming  campaign. 

About  this  time  the  movement  for  his  nomination  appeared  in  many 
places.  State  after  State  and  district  after  district  declared  for  him 
until  the  convention  in  St.  Louis,  when  he  was  the  choice  of  more  than 
two-thirds  of  the  delegates  and  was  nominated  on  the  first  ballot.  Early 
in  the  campaign  he  announced  that  he  would  do  no  speaking,  his  only 
contribution  to  be  his  letter  of  acceptance.  But  the  people  began  to  flock 
to  Canton  as  they  flocked  here  when  Harrison  was  first  nominated,  and 
at  his  home  he  made  more  than  300  speeches  from  June  to  November  of 
that  year  to  more  than  750,000  people.  About  thirty  States  sent  dele- 
gates and  more  than  thirty  times  as  many  political  clubs  and  organizations 
were  represented. 

Mr.  McKinley  was  elected  President  in  1896,  after  a  heated  canvass, 
receiving  271  electoral  votes  to  171  for  Mr.  Bryan.  He  had  a  popular 
plurality  over  Bryan  of  603,514. 

MR.  MCKINLEY'S  ADMINISTRATION. 

Mr.  McKinley  came  to  the  White  House  with  a  reputation  won  chiefly 
by  his  shrewdness  in  politics  and  by  his  strenuous  and  persistent  advocacy 
of  protection.  Many  of  those  who  voted  for  him  had  little  confidence  in 
him,  except  that  his  honesty  and  good  intentions  were  not  questioned.  In 
his  inaugural  address  he  spoke  somewhat  conservatively  on  the  great  issue 
on  which  he  had  been  elected,  btit  the  feeling  now  is  that  he  was  perhaps 


154  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

wise  not  to  fall  in  wholly  with  the  plans  of  the  more  radical  currency 
reformers.  At  any  rate,  he  postponed  currency  reform  to  tariff  reform, 
and  shortly  after  his  inauguration  he  called  the  Fifty-fifth  Congress  to- 
gether in  extraordinary  session  on  March  I5th.  In  his  message  he  called 
attention  to  the  condition  of  the  finances  of  the  country,  attributing  the 
bad  state  of  affairs  to  the  insufficiency  of  the  revenue  raised  by  the  tariff 
then  in  force.  He  said:  "The  necessity  of  the  passage  of  a  tariff  law 
which  shall  provide  ample  revenue  need  not  be  further  urged.  The  im- 
perative demand  of  the  hour  is  the  prompt  enactment  of  such  a  measure, 
and  to  this  object  I  earnestly  recommend  that  Congress  shall  make  every 
endeavor.  Before  other  business  is  transacted,  let  us  first  provide  suf- 
ficient revenue  to  faithfully  administer  the  Government  without  the  con- 
tracting of  further  debt  or  the  continual  disturbance  of  our  finances." 

Both  branches  of  Congress  were  controlled  by  the  Republicans.  As 
far  back  as  December  the  leaders  had  been  in  conference  on  the  subject, 
and  so  it  was  possible  to  report  a  bill  promptly,  the  measure  coming  to 
the  House  from  the  Ways  and  Means  Committee  March  igth.  Twelve 
days  were  allowed  for  a  discussion  of  the  bill,  the  date  for  its  passage 
being  fixed  as  March  3ist.  It  passed  the  House  on  that  date  by  a  vote 
of  205  to  122.  The  discussion  in  the  Senate  was  protracted,  and  872 
amendments  were  incorporated  into  the  bill.  It  passed  that  body  July  7th 
by  a  vote  of  38  to  28.  The  House  non-concurred  in  the  Senate  amend- 
ments, but  the  conference  committee  reported  in  favor  of  a  great  many 
of  them,  and  the  report  was  finally  agreed  to,  the  President  affixing  his 
signature  to  the  bill  July  24,  1897. 

There  was  other  important  legislation  at  the  special  session,  but  its 
sole  purpose  was  accomplished  when  the  tariff  bill  was  passed,  and  it 
adjourned  shortly  afterward. 

Mr.  McKinley's  first  Cabinet  was  as  follows :  Secretary  of  State,  John 
Sherman ;  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  Lyman  J.  Gage ;  Secretary  of  War, 
Russell  A.  Alger;  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  Cornelius  N.  Bliss;  Secre- 
tary of  the  Navy,  John  D.  Long ;  Secretary  of  Agriculture,  James  Wilson ; 
Postmaster-General,  James  A.  Gary ;  Attorney-General,  Joseph  McKenna. 
Mr.  Sherman  subsequently  gave  way  to  William  R.  Day,  who  was  in 
turn  succeeded  by  John  Hay;  Mr.  Alger  was  succeeded  by  Elihu  Root; 
Mr.  Bliss  by  E.  A.  Hitchcock ;  Mr.  Gary  by  Charles  Emory  Smith ;  Mr. 
McKenna  by  John  W.  Griggs,  who  later  gave  place  to  Philander  Knox. 

THE  TROUBLE  WITH  SPAIN. 

From  the  beginning  of  the  McKinley  administration  the  trouble  with 
Spain  became  acute.  The  President  dealt  with  it  conservatively  and  pru- 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  155 

dently.  There  were  other  important  foreign  questions  still  unsettled 
when  he  died.  Among  these  may  be  mentioned  the  Alaskan  boundary 
question,  the  sealing  question,  the  arbitration  treaty  with  Great  Britain 
and  the  inherited  Venezuelan  arbitration  question,  which,  however,  had 
been  mostly  disposed  of  by  the  Cleveland  administration.  When  Con- 
gress met  in  regular  session  in  December  the  Cuban  troubles  occupied  the 
most  prominent  position.  There  was  a  strong  war  spirit  manifest  from 
the  start.  The  apparent  impossibility  of  Spain  ever  subduing  the  island, 
the  sufferings  of  the  reconcentrados,  and  indeed  the  general  situation  as 
depicted  by  Senator  Proctor,  in  a  calm,  unsensational  and  almost  passion- 
less speech,  all  combined  to  create  the  feeling  that  war  was  inevitable. 
Yet  the  President  exerted  all  his  influence  in  behalf  of  peace.  Finally 
the  blowing  up  of  the  United  States  battleship  Maine  in  Havana  harbor 
precipitated  matters  so  that  it  was  impossible  to  avert  war.  Yet  it  did  not 
come  for  two  months.  In  the  meantime  the  question  of  the  destruction 
of  the  Maine  was  carefully  investigated  by  a  commission  and  the  con- 
clusion was  reached  that  the  explosion  was  from  the  outside  of  the  ship, 
though  no  blame  was  placed  on  Spain  by  the  commission. 

Finally  war  began  April  22,  1898,  when  the  American  cruiser  Nash- 
ville captured  the  Spanish  ship  Buena  Ventura.  The  next  day  the  Presi- 
dent issued  a  call  for  125,000  volunteers.  Spain  declared  war  April  24, 
and  the  next  day  war  was  declared  by  Congress.  The  history  of  it  is 
known  to  the  world.  Dewey  destroyed  the  Spanish  fleet  at  Manila  May  I. 
In  June  an  army  was  sent  to  Cuba,  and  the  fighting  was  continuous  up  to 
the  time  of  the  destruction  off  Santiago  of  the  fleet  of  Cervera,  on  July 
3.  Shortly  after  this  peace  negotiations  began,  and  at  last  the  protocol 
was  signed  by  the  United  States,  and  M.  Cambon,  the  French  ambassador, 
who  acted  for  Spain.  This  was  on  August  12.  Manila  surrendered  to 
the  American  army  August  13. 

The  treaty  of  peace,  providing1  for  the  abandonment  of  Spanish  sov- 
ereignty over  Cuba,  the  cession  of  Porto  Rico  and  the  Philippines  to  the 
United  States,  and  the  payment  of  $20,000,000  to  Spain,  was  signed  at 
Paris  December  loth.  The  treaty  was  ratified  by  the  Senate  February 
6th,  1899.  The  result  was  to  impose  vast  responsibilities  on  this  Gov- 
ernment. 

SOME  OF  THE  RESULTS  OF  THE  WAR. 

Most  of  what  has  happened  since  has  been  the  result  of  the  war  with 
Spain.  The  Philippine  insurrection  has  been  going  on  ever  since  the 
ratification  of  the  treaty,  though  it  has  now  been  practically  suppressed. 
President  McKinley  did  everything  in  his  power  to  learn  the  facts.  He 


156  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

sent  a  commission  to  investigate  the  situation  and  was  guided  largely  by  its 
report.  Congress  left  to  the  President  a  free  hand  in  dealing  with  the 
problem.  At  the  earliest  possible  moment  he  sent  the  commission,  headed 
by  William  H.  Taft,  to  establish  civil  government  in  the  archipelago,  and 
that  work  is  being  carried  forward  as  rapidly  as  circumstances  will  permit. 
It  is  to  be  noted  further  that  the  President  never  committed  himself  defi- 
nitely to  any  policy  for  the  final  settlement  of  the  difficulty.  He  insisted 
that  we  could  not  allow  ourselves  to  be  driven  from  the  islands;  that  it 
would  not  be  safe  or  wise  to  leave  them,  and  that  it  was  our  duty,  and  a 
duty  which  was  imposed  on  us,  to  restore  peace  and  order. 

The  greatest  trouble  came  over  the  Porto  Rican  tariff  question — 
greatest  in  the  political  sense,  for  it  came  nearer  dividing  the  Republican 
party.  In  his  message  of  1899  the  President  had  said  that  it  was  "our 
plain  duty"  to  give  free  trade  to  Porto  Rico,  and  many  of  the  Republican 
leaders  agreed  with  this  view.  But  gradually  opposition  developed  to  this 
plan,  and  finally  the  President  himself  yielded,  and  at  last,  on  April  12, 
1900,  an  act  was  passed  for  the  government  of  the  island  which  imposed 
duties  on  goods  going  into  and  coming  out  of  Porto  Rico  amounting  to 
15  per  cent  of  the  Dingley  duties — all  the  proceeds  of  the  tariff  to  go  to 
Porto  Rico.  And  this  action  raised  the  constitutional  question  as  to  the 
relation  of  the  United  States  to  its  new  possessions,  which  finally  was 
answered  by  the  Supreme  Court  during  the  year  1901.  The  Porto 
Rican  tariff  act  was  upheld.  It  provided  that  under  certain  conditions 
the  President  should  proclaim  free  trade  with  Porto  Rico,  which  has  since 
been  done.  The  island  has  improved  rapidly  under  American  adminis- 
tration. In  Cuba  a  military  government  has  been  maintained  with  Leon- 
ard Wood  as  governor  general,  and  here,  too,  great  results  have  been 
achieved.  And  now  it  is  thought  that  the  Cubans  having  adopted  a  con- 
stitution of  their  own,  will  soon  have  an  independent  government,  subject 
to  a  qualified  protectorate  of  the  United  States. 

HAWAII  AND  SAMOA. 

May  17,  1898,  in  the  heat  of  the  Spanish  war,  and  shortly  after  the 
destruction  of  the  Spanish  fleet  in  Manila  harbor,  a  joint  resolution  was 
introduced  by  Mr.  Hitt  in  the  House,  providing  for  the  annexation  of 
Hawaii.  A  substitute  was  introduced  by  the  minority  of  the  Committee 
on  Foreign  Affairs,  which  contemplated  maintaining  the  independence  of 
the  islands,  but  this  was  rejected  June  15  by  a  vote  of  204  to  96,  and  the 
resolution  proposed  by  the  majority  of  the  committee  was  adopted  on  the 
same  day  by  a  vote  of  209  to  91.  It  went  to  the  Senate  June  17,  and 
discussion  began  June  20,  continuing  till  July  6,  when  it  was  adopted  by 


The    Remains   of  President   McKinley  Lying   in   Stsxte  in  the  Rotunda 

of  the  Capitol 


•SS 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  157 

a  vote  of  42  to  21.  Other  island  possessions  won  were  Guam,  which 
was  captured  by  an  American  vessel,  and  the  island  of  Tutuila,  of  the 
Samoan  group,  which  was  set  off  to  the  United  States  when  the  islands 
were  finally  partitioned  and  the  joint  control  of  the  United  States,  Ger- 
many and  Great  Britain  was  terminated.  The  Samoan  convention  was 
concluded  November  14,  1899. 

The  bankruptcy  law  now  in  force  was  passed  during  Mr.  McKinley's 
first  term.  The  bill  was  taken  up  by  the  House  February  16,  1898.  After 
a  debate  of  three  days  it  passed  by  a  vote  of  159  to  125.  The  Senate  non- 
concurred,  but  finally  an  agreement  was  reached,  and  the  bill  was  ap- 
proved by  the  President  July  i. 

THE  MONEY  QUESTION. 

In  his  first  message  Mr.  McKinley  briefly  spoke  of  the  money  ques- 
tion, his  recommendation  being  limited  to  a  provision  that  when  green- 
backs were  once  redeemed  for  gold  they  should  not  again  be  paid  out 
except  for  gold.  He  renewed  this  recommendation  in  his  message  of 
December  5,  1898.  In  addition  to  this,  he  advised  that  a  trust  fund  be 
created  for  the  redemption  of  greenbacks.  He  was  sympathetic  toward 
the  efforts  of  the  currency  reformers,  and  was  no  doubt  influenced  by 
those  who  met  in  convention  in  this  city  on  two  different  occasions  for 
the  consideration  of  the  money  question.  But  the  President  was  not 
ardent.  His  message  of  1898  was  not  insistent,  or,  indeed,  strenuous,  on 
the  subject  in  any  particular.  The  bill  prepared  by  the  committee  created 
by  the  Indianapolis  conference  did  not  meet  with  great  favor  among  the 
Republican  leaders  in  Congress.  But  finally,  in  his  message  of  December, 
1899,  the  President  grew  more  emphatic.  He  urged  that  authority  be 
granted  to  organize  national  banks  with  a  capital  of  $25,000;  that  power 
be  conferred  on  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  sell  gold  bonds  to  main- 
tain the  gold  reserve,  and  that  steps  be  taken  to  maintain  the  gold  standard. 
He  pointed  out  that  the  inadequacy  of  the  revenue  had  removed  one  source 
of  embarrassment,  and  he  insisted  that  we  should  "remove  the  only  re- 
maining cause  by  conferring  the  full  and  necessary  power  on  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury,  and  impose  upon  him  the  duty  to  uphold  the  present 
gold  standard  and  preserve  the  coins  of  the  two  metals  on  a  parity  with 
each  other,  which  is  the  repeatedly  declared  policy  of  the  United  States." 

Mr.  Overstreet's  financial  bill  was  introduced  in  the  House  Decem- 
ber 7,  and  it  was  passed  December  18  by  a  vote  of  190  to  150.  In  the 
Senate  it  was  debated  at  considerable  length,  amended  and  passed  Feb- 
ruary 15,  1900,  by  a  vote  of  46  to  29.  The  House,  as  usual,  non-con- 
curred, and  the  inevitable  conference  committee  followed,  which  reported 


158  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

a  substitute,  which  was  adopted  March  13,  and  was  signed  by  the  Presi- 
dent the  next  day.  It  changed  the  national  banking  system  somewhat, 
provided  for  the  refunding  of  a  large  portion  of  the  public  debt,  declared 
gold  to  be  the  standard  and  prescribed  methods  for  maintaining  that 
standard.  With  the  financial  question  reasonably  well  settled,  with  the 
country  prosperous,  with  an  abundant  revenue,  and  with  the  record  made 
in  the  Spanish  war,  it  was  inevitable  that  President  McKinley  should  be 
renominated.  In  fact,  no  one  else  was  seriously  thought  of,  and  when 
the  Republican  convention  met  at  Philadelphia,  June  19,  1900,  Mr.  Mc- 
Kinley was  nominated  by  acclamation,  Theodore  Roosevelt  being  nomi- 
nated as  candidate  for  Vice-President. 

THE  CANVASS  OF  1900. 

Mr.  Bryan  was  again  Mr.  McKinley's  opponent,  and  again  the  old 
issue  was  fought  over.  It  was  found  impossible  to  subordinate  the  finan- 
cial issue,  with  Mr.  Bryan  in  command  of  the  opposing  force,  and  with  a 
flat-footed  declaration  for  free  silver  coinage  in  the  Democratic  platform. 
Imperialism  was  much  discussed,  and  some  prominent  men  that  supported 
Mr.  McKinley  in  1896  deserted  him  in  1900,  and  either  refused  to  vote 
or  voted  for  Mr.  Bryan.  But  the  result  was  even  more  decisive  than  it 
had  been  in  1896.  The  McKinley  plurality  was  849,455,  and  his  plurality 
in  the  electoral  college  was  137,  he  receiving  292  votes  to  155  for  Mr. 
Bryan.  We  have  already  noted  the  changes  that  took  place  in  the  Cabinet 
of  Mr.  McKinley. 

Congress  met  in  December,  1900,  and  Mr.  McKinley  sent  in  a  mes- 
sage in  which  he  discussed  our  new  responsibilities  at  great  length.  How- 
ever, the  session  was  not  of  great  importance,  the  greatest  interest  being 
shown  in  the  ship  subsidy  bill,  which  never  got  to  a  vote,  and  in  the  river 
and  harbor  bill,  which  was  talked  to  death.  The  session  was  the  short 
one  and  Congress  adjourned  March  4. 

Mr.  McKinley  showed  no  elation,  either  in  his  message  after  his 
second  election  or  in  his  second  inaugural,  over  the  triumph  of  himself 
and  his  party.  He  set  himself  to  work  to  solve  the  grave  problems  with 
which  the  country  was  confronted  and  he  gave  the  country  his  best 
efforts.  He  was  able  to  accomplish  little  or  nothing  toward  settling  our 
differences  with  Canada,  and  the  Alaskan  boundary  question  is  still  unad- 
justed, the  modus  vivendi  being  still  in  operation.  What  must  have  been 
a  serious  disappointment  to  him  was  the  rejection  by  the  Senate  of  the 
treaty  negotiated  between  this  country  and  Great  Britain  dealing  with  the 
Nicaraguan  canal  question.  The  Senate  amended  it  in  important  par- 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  150 

ticulars,  and  later  the  British  government  refused  to  agree  to  it.     So  that 
great  question  is  still  pending. 

President  McKinley  got  along  very  comfortably  with  Congress.  He 
made  little  use  of  the  veto  power,  and  generally  his  theory  seemed  to  be 
that  he  was  not  so  much  a  leader  as  a  co-worker  with  Congress.  He  de- 
ferred greatly  to  Senators  and  Representatives,  especially  in  the  matter  of 
patronage.  And  it  must  be  said  with  regret  that  civil  service  reform  suf- 
fered a  severe  setback  during  his  administration.  His  exemption  of  many 
places  irom  the  rules,  and  his  failure  to  punish  violations  of  the  law  on 
the  part  of  his  subordinates  are  responsible  for  the  "backward  step"  that 
had  been  taken. 

DIFFICULT  PROBLEMS.  /. 

No  President  since  Mr.  Lincoln  had  so  many  and  so  difficult  prob- 
lems to  deal  with.  Many  of  them  have  already  been  spoken  of.  It  is 
admitted  by  every  one  that  Mr.  McKinley  bore  himself  with  great  dignity 
during  the  Spanish  war,  and  that  he  and  his  administration  served  the 
country  faithfully  and  intelligently.  In  the  relations  of  this  Government 
with  foreign  powers  Mr.  McKinley  was  a  safe  guide,  and  it  had  been 
many  years  since  we  had  had  a  President  who  was  more  respected  abroad 
than  was  Mr.  McKinley.  The  people  of  Great  Britain,  having  the  Mc- 
Kinley tariff  in  mind,  were  convinced  that  he  would  prove  to  be  a  pro- 
nounced anglophobist.  But  he  was  criticised  by  the  more  extreme  of 
our  own  people  for  his  courtesy  and  manifest  good  will  toward  England. 
At  a  time  when  there  was  a  strong  demand  that  there  should  be  some 
intervention — peaceable  or  other — in  behalf  of  the  Boers,  and  with^a  cam- 
paign coming  on,  Mr.  McKinley  nevertheless  held  the  balance  true.  It 
will  not  be  forgotten  how,  in  spite  of  the  friction  with  Germany  at  Ma- 
nila, the  American  President  exerted  all  his  influence  to  cement  the  rela- 
tions between  this  country  and  Germany.  Indeed,  in  one  of  his  recent 
utterances  he  went  so  far  as  to  make  our  English  friends  fearful  that  we 
were  going  to  prefer  Germany  to  Great  Britain. 

The  truth  is  that  the  President  simply  recognized  that  he  was  the 
head  of  a  great  nation  that  did  not  want  any  enemies,  and  whose  great 
wish  was  to  live  on  terms  of  peace  and  concord  with  all  mankind.  So 
Mr.  McKinley  was  prompt  to  respond  to  the  Czar's  invitation  to  The 
Hague  conference,  and  the  United  States  was  ably  represented  at  that 
gathering.  But  the  great  test  of  Mr.  McKinley's  power  came  last  year, 
with  the  assault  on  the  foreign  legations  in  Pekin.  From  the  very  begin- 
ning he  and  his  Secretary  of  State  saw  things  straight.  They  were  not 
deceived  by  wild  reports,  or  stampeded  into  a  wild  cry  for  vengeance. 


160  WILLIAM    McK  IN  LEY. 

They  insisted  all  the  while  that  the  legations  were  safe,  that  the  first  duty 
was  to  rescue  them,  that  there  was  no  evidence  to  prove  that  the  Chinese 
government  was  in  any  way  responsible  for  the  outbreak,  and  more  im- 
portant than  all,  they  had  the  sense  to  understand  that  the  first  thing  to 
do  was  to  discover  some  government  in  China  with  which  they  could  deal. 

The  situation  was  not  unlike  that  which  confronted  Bismarck  after 
the  German  army  had  captured  Paris.  He  saw  that  there  must  be  a 
French  government  if  there  were  to  be  any  settlement  of  the  questions 
at  issue.  And  his  first  concern  was  to  discover  one — and  then  to  uphold 
it.  It  was  so  at  Pekin  last  year.  The  President  maintained  the  most 
friendly  relations  with  the  Chinese  minister  in  this  country,  and  it  was 
finally  through  him  that  communication  with  the  besieged  legationers  was 
effected. 

And  all  the  while  Secretary  Hay  was  negotiating  with  the  European 
powers  on  the  subject,  and  almost  before  they  knew  it  he  had  them  com- 
mitted to  the  American  policy  of  maintaining  the  integrity  of  the  Chinese 
Empire,  and  to  a  renunciation  on  the  part  of  each  power  of  any  purpose 
to  strive  for  any  special  advantage,  or  to  deal  separately  with  the  Chinese 
government.  American  troops  were  sent  to  China,  and  they  bore  a  gal- 
lant part  in  the  relief  of  the  legationers,  entering  Pekin  August  14,  1900. 
When  they  were  no  longer  needed  they  were  promptly  withdrawn.  Plain- 
ly, Mr.  McKinly  was  a  greater  man  than  he  was  supposed  to  be  when  he 
went  into  office. 

GENERAL  CHARACTERISTICS. 

Mr.  McKinley  did  not  always  shine  in  his  state  papers.  They  were, 
as  a  rule,  sober  and  prosaic,  and  often  dully  conventional  rehearsals  of 
facts  and  timid  recommendations  of  policy.  He  was  in  no  sense  a  showy 
man.  But  there  was  no  doubt  that  he  always  strove  to  do  his  duty  as 
he  saw  it.  He  was  noted  for  his  independence,  yet  he  had  great  capacity 
for  growth  as  he  abundantly  showed  by  his  changed  attitude  on  the  tariff 
question.  The  nation  was  materially  blessed  under  the  McKinley  admin- 
istration. With  the  laying  of  the  free  silver  ghost,  prosperity  came  with  a 
bound.  Our  foreign  trade  was  the  greatest  the  country  had  ever  known. 
Industry  had  been  abundantly  prosperous.  Wages  had  been  good  and 
investments  profitable.  To  such  a  pass  had  it  come  that  foreign  nations 
were  dreading  American  competition.  There  was  work  for  all  that  were 
willing  and  able  to  work.  Our  industrial  conquests  abroad  startled  the 
world. 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  161 

In  general  it  may  be  said  that  during  the  administration  of  President 
McKinley  the  people  were  happy,  contented  and  prosperous.  From  a 
material  point  of  view,  at  least,  it  was  our  golden  age.  And  all  over  the 
world  the  great  republic  is  respected  and  honored. 


CHAPTER  X. 

SIMILARITY  BETWEEN  THE  CASES  OF  PRESIDENTS  McKiNLEY  AND  GAR- 
FIELD — I-N  NEITHER  INSTANCE  WAS  THE  BULLET  WHICH  PROVED  A 
SOURCE  OF  DANGER  LOCATED — PHYSICIANS  IN  ATTENDANCE  UPON 
THE  DISTINGUISHED  PATIENTS. 


The  shooting  of  President  McKinley,  and  above  all  the  failure  of 
the  surgeons  to  locate  the  second  bullet,  of  course  turned  the  thoughts 
of  every  one  to  the  plight  of  President  Garfield  when  he  lay  for  eleven 
weeks  and  more  suffering  from  the  effects  of  Guiteau's  bullet,  the  where- 
abouts of  which  the  surgeons  failed  to  discover  until  the  knife  laid  bare 
its  course  at  the  autopsy. 

After  President  Garfield  was  shot  he  was  taken  first  to  a  private  room 
in  the  station  and  thence  removed  to  the  White  House.  He  had  been 
shot  twice,  first  in  the  right  arm,  just  below  the  shoulder,  and  the  second 
and  fatal  time  in  the  back,  just  above  the  right  hip  and  near  the  kidney. 

The  surgeons  who  were  hastily  summoned  probed  for  the  bullet 
without  success,  but  announced  that  its  course  had  been  downward  and 
forward  into  the  groin,  and  that  the  wound  was  serious  but  not  likely  to 
be  fatal.  The  wound  in  the  arm  did  not  amount  to  much,  save  for  the 
pain  it  caused.  The  President  retained  consciousness,  and  when  he 
reached  the  White  House  he  dictated  a  telegram  to  Mrs.  Garfield,  who 
was  at  Elberon. 

When  he  was  shot  down  he  was  on  his  way  to  meet  her  in  Jersey 
City,  whence  with  some  members  of  his  Cabinet  he  was  to  make  a  trip 
into  New  England. 

President  Garfield's  recovery  from  the  shock  of  the  wounds  was  very 
gradual.  Later  attempts  to  find  the  bullet  failed,  but  there  were  no  signs 
at  once  of  serious  internal  hemorrhage  and  there  was  little  external  bleed- 
ing. 

A  former  physician  of  General  Garfield's  said  that  the  President  had 
very  few  chances.  The  President  maintained  his  courage,  kept  a  clear 
head  and  continued  cheerful  through  Sunday,  but  he  asked  the  doctors 
to  tell  him  if  he  was  going  to  die.  Hopes  of  the  medical  men  rose  on 

162 


WILLIAM    Me  KIN  LEY.  163 

Sunday,  but  on  Sunday  at  midnight  they  had  vanished.  Serious  inflam- 
mation had  set  in  during  the  evening,  and  at  9  o'clock  Vice-President 
Arthur  was  awaiting  a  summons  to  the  White  House  to  take  the  oath  of 
office. 

By  noon  of  Monday  the  doctors  had  relieved  the  pain,  which  till  then 
had  been  constant  and  which  the  patient  had  complained  of  all  the  time 
as  being  in  his  legs  and  feet.  It  was  due  to  the  injury  of  the  nerves 
supplying  the  extremities.  One  New  York  surgeon  said  after  the 
President's  death  that  these  pains  he  complained  of  showed  that  there 
was  trouble  in  the  sciatic  muscle  region  and  that  this  indication  should 
have  led  the  surgeons  to  make  an  incision  there  which  would  have  let 
out  the  pus  which  afterward  caused  so  much  trouble. 

At  2  o'clock  on  Sunday  afternoon  President  Garfield  said  he  felt 
better  than  at  any  time  since  he  was  shot.  He  had  then  a  pulse  of  no, 
temperature  100  and  respiration  24.  The  examinations  up  to  that  time, 
it  was  announced,  had  only  demonstrated  that  the  bullet  was  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  the  liver. 

From  then  until  the  autopsy  disclosed  their  error  the  surgeons  spoke 
of  the  President's  wound  as  having  penetrated  the  liver,  and  statistics  were 
evoked  for  an  illustration  of  the  chances  of  life  with  such  a  wound.  It 
was  found  that  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  or  one  hundred  and  seventy  cases 
of  similar  liver  wounds  in  the  Civil  War,  twenty-three  were  treated  suc- 
cessfully. 

The  great  danger  in  President  Garfield's  case  was  acknowledged  to 
be,  as  in  the  case  of  President  McKinley,  in  peritonitis,  which  it  was 
said  then  was  almost  always  fatal.  On  the  first  evening  brandy  and 
cracked  ice  helped  General  Garfield  to  rally.  But  presently  he  could 
not  retain  that.  On  the  second  evening  the  champagne  and  cracked  ice 
aided  him.  Then  his  diet  fell  to  milk  and  lime  water,  with,  later,  some 
chicken  broth  and  rum  of  old  vintage. 

On  the  Tuesday  following  the  shooting  the  patient  had  as  comfort- 
able a  day  as  could  be  expected,  and  on  Wednesday  there  was  the  same 
waiting  for  developments,  which  it  was  hoped  might  be  good,  but  feared 
would  be  bad.  All  that  the  doctors  could  do  was  to  try  to  keep  the 
patient's  strength  up.  They  feared  blood  poisoning  all  the  time,  but 
could  do  nothing  to  prevent  it,  as  they  did  not  know  the  course  of  the 
bullet. 

They  were  all  ready  for  instant  operation  should  it  develop,  as,  if  it 
did,  there  must  be  instant  operation  or  death  would  be  certain.  The 


164  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

patient  might  appear  to  be  getting  well,  but  suddenly  the  blood  might 
come  into  contact  with  the  putrid  matter  slousfhiner  from  the  wound  and 
be  turned  to  gall,  and  then  the  patient  would  die.  The  operating  instru- 
ments were  kept  to  hand  and  the  surgeons  stood  guard. 

The  newspapers  were  printing  extra  editions  almost  hourly  and  the 
physicians  were  issuing  frequent  bulletins,  but  it  was  well  understood — 
the  doctors  even  saying  so — that  the  bulletins  gave  little  real  information. 
They  merely  recorded  the  pulse,  temperature  and  respiration  and  left  the 
public  to  make  its  own  deductions.  No  diagnosis  was  made  public. 
From  the  rise  of  the  surgical  fever  on  July  3d,  the  variations  of  the 
pulse  to  July  6th  were  from  98  to  126,  of  the  temperature  from  98.9  to 
101.9,  and  of  the  respiration  from  19  to  24. 

President  Garfield  was  told  that  the  bullet  had  perforated  his 
diaphragm  and  on  that  account  he  mustn't  talk.  He  liked  to  converse 
and  the  doctors  wanted  to  keep  him  very  quiet.  They  got  him  to  the 
point  where  he  would  even  ask  mutely  for  water  by  putting  his  hand  to 
his  lips.  Later  he  lost  all  desire  to  talk. 

Not  until  Friday  was  pus — which  the  physicians  said  showed  that 
the  wound  was  healing — seen.  Ten  days  after  the  shooting  the  patient's 
temperature  reached  the  highest  point — 102.8.  The  doctors  all  this  time 
believed  that  the  bullet  had  passed  between  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  ribs, 
through  the  liver,  and  to  the  abdominal  cavity,  where  they  said  it  had 
lodged  in  the  anterior  wall  of  the  abdomen,  from  which  they  expected 
to  be  able  to  remove  it  readily,  in  due  time,  without  danger. 

It  was  only  learned  by  the  public  on  July  13  that  the  President  had 
"circumscribed  peritonitis,"  and  that  he  had  had  it  since  the  second  day 
of  his  illness.  This  circumscribed  peritonitis  was  defined  by  a  tender- 
ness in  the  abdomen  and  it  was  believed  by  the  surgeons  that  this  located 
the  bullet. 

They  thought  that  the  tenderness  due  to  the  peritonitis  marked  where 
the  bullet  had  found  lodgment,  but  a  little  lump  there  which  they  thought 
was  the  bullet  they  concluded  after  the  autopsy  must  have  been  hard  pus 
at  the  end  of  a  canal  which  it  had  bored  for  itself  from  a  point  near  the 
beginning  of  the  bullet  wound. 

The  pus  worked  forward,  while  the  bullet  had  gone  sidewise  across 
the  back ;  but  it  was  many  weary  weeks  before  this  was  learned,  and  the 
sufferer,  from  abundant  health  in  midsummer,  had  passed  through  all  the 
stages  to  the  knife  of  the  post-mortem  examiner  just  before  the  autumnal 
equinox. 


4  WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  165 

The  surgeons  had  not  relied  solely  upon  the  manifestations  of  the 
pus-workings,  but  had  employed  upon  more  than  one  occasion  the  "induc- 
tion balance."  There  had  been  at  least  two  occasions  of  serious  relapse 
in  the  latter  part  of  July,  and  at  length  Dr.  Agnew  made  an  incision. 
Explorations  were  made  along  the  pus  canal,  the  supposed  course  of  the 
bullet,  where  there  was  a  channel  several  inches  deep,  but  the  results 
were  not  satisfactory;  so  experiments  to  locate  the  bullet  were  made  by 
the  induction  balance,  under  the  direction  of  Professor  Graham  Bell  and 
an  assistant.  The  report  of  one  of  them  on  August  ist  said : 

"Under  the  supervision  of  the  attending  surgeons,  Professors  Bell 
and  Taintor  this  morning  made  another  application  of  the  electrical  appa- 
ratus known  as  the  induction  balance,  with  a  view  to  completing  the  tests 
of  last  week,  which  were  not  entirely  conclusive,  and  ascertaining  defi- 
nitely and  certainly,  if  possible,  the  location  of  the  ball. 

"They  tried  this  improved  apparatus  on  the  President's  body  for  the 
first  time  last  week,  and  although  it  indicated  faintly  the  location  of  the 
ball,  it  was  afterward  found  to  be  slightly  out  of  adjustment,  and  the 
experiment  was  not  regarded  as  perfectly  conclusive.  The  results  of  this 
morning's  tests,  however,  are  entirely  satisfactory  both  to  Professors  Bell 
and  Taintor  and  to  the  attending  surgeons,  and  it  is  now  unanimously 
agreed  that  the  location  of  the  ball  has  been  ascertained  with  reasonable 
certainty,  and  that  it  lies,  as  heretofore  stated,  in  the  front  wall  of  the 
abdomen,  immediately  over  the  groin,  about  five  inches  below  and  to  the 
right  of  the  navel." 

Improvement  and  relapse  continued  throughout  August,  and  on 
September  6th  the  President  was  removed  from  the  White  House  to 
Elberon,  his  case  then  being  really  hopeless.  Three  thousand  five  hun- 
dred feet  of  track  were  laid  from  the  railroad  station  at  Elberon  to  the 
Francklyn  cottage,  to  which  the  President  was  taken,  so  that  the  train 
could  run  practically  to  the  door. 

His  condition  fluctuated  from  that  time  until  his  death  at  10:35  P- 
m.  on  September  ipth.  The  autopsy  was  made  the  next  day,  the  knife 
being  used  by  Dr.  D.  S.  Lamb,  of  the  Medical  Museum  of  Washington, 
in  the  presence  of  the  other  surgeons.  The  official  announcements  of  its 
results  said : 

"It  was  found  that  the  ball,  after  fracturing  the  right  eleventh  rib, 
had  passed  through  the  spinal  column  in  front  of  the  spinal  canal,  frac- 
turing the  body  of  the  first  lumbar  vertebra,  driving  a  number  of  small 
fragments  of  bone  into  the  adjacent  soft  parts  and  lodging  below  the 


166  V/ILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

pancreas,  about  two  inches  and  a  half  to  the  left  of  the  spine  and  behind 
the  peritoneum,  where  it  had  become  completely  encysted. 

"The  immediate  cause  of  death  was  secondary  hemorrhage  from  one 
of  the  mesenteric  arteries  adjoining  the  track  of  the  ball,  the  blood  rup- 
turing the  peritoneum  and  nearly  a  pint  escaping  into  the  abdominal  cav- 
ity. An  abscess  cavity,  six  inches  by  four  in  dimensions,  was  found 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  gall  bladder,  between  the  liver  and  the  transverse 
colon,  which  were  strongly  adherent.  It  did  not  involve  the  substance 
of  the  liver,  and  no  communication  was  found  between  it  and  the  wound. 

"A  long  suppurating  channel  extended  from  the  external  wound, 
between  the  loin  muscles  and  the  right  kidney,  almost  to  the  groin.  This 
channel,  now  known  to  be  due  to  the  burrowing  of  pus  from  the  wound, 
was  supposed  during  life  to  be  the  track  of  the  ball." 

The  report  of  the  autopsy  was  signed  by  Drs.  D.  W.  Bliss,  J.  K. 
Barnes,  J.  J.  Woodward,  Robert  Reyburn,  Frank  H.  Hamilton,  D.  Hayes 
Agnew,  Andrew  D.  Smith  and  D.  S.  Lamb.  Dr.  Reyburn  has  said  that 
the  injury  to  the  spine  would  have  caused  death  in  any  event.  Dr.  Bliss 
in  a  review  of  the  case,  mentioning  the  points  revealed  in  the  autopsy 
which  required  consideration  by  the  profession,  said : 

"Would  the  condition  of  the  President  immediately  after  his  injury 
have  justified  a  more  thorough  exploration  of  the  wound,  or  would  such 
a  procedure  have  been  safe  at  any  time  before  primary  reaction  was  estab- 
lished? Considering  carefully  the  condition  of  the  President  during  the 
entire  period  of  his  illness,  and  the  facts  revealed  by  the  autopsy,  would 
not  any  operation  for  the  purposes  before  mentioned  have  placed  the 
President's  life  in  great  jeopardy,  and,  at  best,  have  hastened  the  time 
of  his  death  without  affording  any  signal  relief?  *  *  *  I  desire  to 
make  the  inquiry  whether  more  extensive  explorations  could  have  been 
safely  made  ?  *  *  *  I  would  ask  if  any  known  instrument  or  means 
of  exploration  has  ever  been  presented  to  the  profession  capable  of 
tracing  before  the  death  of  said  patient  the  course  of  this  bullet  ?" 

There  was  discussion  both  lay  and  professional  after  the  result  of  the 
autopsy  was  made  known,  and,  of  course,  opinions  differed.  The  general 
conclusion  was  that  the  wound  was  mortal  anyway,  without  reference  to 
the  mistaken  diagnosis. 

One  rather  delicate  point  raised  was  as  to  the  exact  part  taken  by 
Drs.  Hamilton  and  Agnew.  They  were  called  in  consultation  after  the 
other  surgeons  had  taken  preliminary  measures,  and  they  approved 
what  had  already  been  done.  It  was  said  afterward  that,  instead  of  mak- 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  167 

ing  explorations  or  examinations  for  themselves  on  their  arrival  at  Wash- 
ington, they  accepted  the  reports  of  the  other  attending  surgeons  and 
gave  their  approval  of  the  course  taken  by  them. 

On  one  hand  it  was  said  that  they  were  bound  to  accept  the  reports  of 
the  other  doctors  who  were  first  in  charge.  On  the  other,  it  was  said  that 
their  profession  and  the  people  expected  them  to  be  their  own  judges 
wholly,  and  that  the  profession  all  over  the  world  when  informed  that 
these  two  men  had  been  summoned  felt  satisfaction  that  the  President 
was  to  have  the  best  medical  and  surgical  skill  and  knowledge  available, 
and  that  this  implied  initial  examination  on  the  part  of  these  surgeons. 
The  case,  by  reason  of  the  remarkable  mistake  in  the  diagnosis,  of  course 
became  a  famous  one  in  surgical  annals. 

REMARKABLE  OPERATION  UPON  PRESIDENT  McKiNLEY. 

The  operation  performed  upon  President  McKinley  at  the  little 
emergency  hospital  within  the  Pan-American  grounds  at  Buffalo  just 
after  he  was  shot  was  in  many  respects  remarkable.  Physicians  said  that 
if  he  recovered  it  would  be  in  no  small  measure  due  to  the  fact  that  within 
a  comparatively  few  minutes  there  was  gathered  together  in  the  operat- 
ing room  a  corps  of  the  most  able  surgeons  in  the  world.  Besides  the 
President's  own  physician,  Dr.  Rixey,  there  were  present  three  surgeons 
of  international  reputation  and  five  accounted  as  among  the  best  in  their 
localities. 

At  4:07  o'clock  the  President  was  shot.  At  4:18  he  lay  on  the  table 
ready  for  the  operation.  Dr.  Lee,  of  St.  Louis,  and  Dr.  Mynter,  of 
Buffalo,  were  on  the  grounds  and  at  hand  within  ten  minutes.  Dr.  Mann 
and  Dr.  Parmenter  were  away  from  their  offices,  but  were  at  the  hospital 
within  an  hour  after  the  shooting.  Dr.  Roswell  Park  was  at  Niagara 
Falls.  A  special  Michigan  Central  train  bore  him  with  marvelous  speed 
to  Buffalo,  and  within  an  hour  and  a  half  he,  too,  was  at  the  operating 
table. 

Dr.  Roswell  Park  was  easily  the  foremost  of  the  corps  of  physicians 
attending  the  President.  He  was  a  surgeon  of  world-wide  fame  and 
author  of  "Park's  System  of  Surgery,"  a  standard  work.  He  was  also 
an  acknowledged  expert  in  cancer.  He  was  then  about  48  years  of  age 
and  enjoyed  a  good  practice.  He  was  graduated  from  the  Rush  Medical 
College,  of  Chicago,  some  twenty-five  years  ago,  and  for  a  time  taught 
there  what  he  had  learned. 

Subsequently  he  spent  much  time  in  European  study,  and  upon  his 
return  earned  his  reputation  as  a  rapid,  clean,  and  what  is  professionally 


168  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

termed  a  pretty  operator,  and  was  one  of  the  few  ambidextrous  surgeons 
in  practice.  He  was  chief  surgeon  at  the  Buffalo  General  Hospital  and 
professor  of  surgery  at  the  University  of  Buffalo. 

Dr.  Herman  Mynter,  an  older  man,  perhaps  56,  was  a  Dane  by 
birth  and  famous  in  two  continents  as  an  expert  abdominal  surgeon  and 
specialist  on  appendicitis,  concerning  which  subject  he  had  written  a 
work  which  is  indispensable  to  the  profession.  In  1900  he  went  to  Den- 
mark and  lectured  on  his  chosen  subject  before  the  Danish  Medical  Con- 
gress at  Copenhagen.  He  was  formerly  surgeon  at  the  Sisters'  Hospital 
and  later  operated  at  the  German  Deaconess  Home  at  the  new  German 
Hospital  in  Buffalo. 

Dr.  Matthew  D.  Mann,  aged  56,  professor  of  gynaecology  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Buffalo,  and  gynaecologist  at  the  Buffalo  General  Hospital, 
attained  a  world-wide  reputation  through  his  standard  text  book  on 
Gynaecology.  He  was  a  Park  Commissioner  of  the  City  of  Buffalo.  He 
had  practiced  from  thirty  to  thirty-five  years  in  Buffalo  and  was  known  as 
an  eminent  abdominal  surgeon.  He  was  once  an  instructor  at  the  Har- 
vard University. 

Dr.  John  Parmenter,  though  not  so  well  known  abroad,  was  esteemed 
as  one  of  the  best  and  most  careful  operators  in  New  York  State.  He 
was  under  40  years  old,  and  was  professor  of  anatomy  at  the  University  of 
Buffalo. 

Dr.  Eugene  Wasdin,  surgeon  of  the  Marine  Hospital,  Department 
of  the  United  States,  stationed  at  Buffalo,  will  be  remembered  as  one 
of  the  experts  detailed  to  investigate  yellow  fever  in  Cuba  during  the 
Spanish  war.  He  was  about  40  years  old  and  an  expert  surgeon  of  more 
than  local  reputation. 

Dr.  T.  W.  Lee,  of  St.  Louis,  who  assisted  in  the  operation,  was  medi- 
cal director  of  the  Omaha  Exposition  and  a  famous  surgeon. 

Dr.  Charles  G.  Stockton,  of  Buffalo,  was  called  into  consultation 
because  of  his  store  of  medical  knowledge.  He  was  perhaps  the  best- 
known  physician  in  Buffalo. 

Dr.  N.  W.  Wilson,  who  was  in  charge  of  the  emergency  hospital  at 
the  time  and  who  was  in  charge  of  the  President  until  the  surgeons 
arrived,  won  a  reputation  early  in  his  career.  He  was  and  had  been 
for  three  years  post  surgeon  at  Fort  Porter,  was  connected  with  the  staff 
of  the  Sisters'  Hospital  and  was  the  sanitary  officer  of  the  Pan-American 
Exposition. 

Dr.  Presley  M.  Rixey,  the  physician  to  the  McKinley  family,  who 
was  with  the  President  in  Buffalo,  was  a  medical  inspector  in  the  United 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  169 

States  Navy.  He  is  a  Virginian,  born  in  Culpepper,  in  that  State,  and 
a  brother  of  John  Franklin  Rixey,  the  Representative  in  Congress  from 
the  Eighth  Virginia  District. 

Dr.  Rixey  was  appointed  an  assistant  surgeon  in  the  regular  army 
on  January  28,  1874.  His  first  cruise  was  in  the  Congress,  attached  to 
the  Eastern  station,  and  when  his  service  on  her  was  completed  in  1876, 
he  was  assigned  to  the  Marine  Hospital  at  Philadelphia,  remaining  there 
until  the  following  year.  His  next  service  was  at  the  Norfolk  Navy 
Yard,  and  then  in  1878  he  was  assigned  to  special  service. 

Surgeon  General  Bates,  of  the  Navy,  who  had  been  Mrs.  McKinley's 
physician  in  Washington  when  the  President  was  in  Congress  and  who 
had  resumed  that  duty  when  the  McKinleys  moved  into  the  White  House, 
died  in  October,  1897. 

General  Leonard  Wood,  then  an  assistant  surgeon  in  the  army  on 
duty  in  Washington,  succeeded  him  as  the  White  House  physician,  and 
when  General  Wood  went  away  from  Washington  as  Colonel  of  the 
Rough  Riders  early  in  1898,  the  President  made  very  careful  inquiry 
as  to  the  qualifications  of  certain  physicians,  before  selecting  General 
Wood's  successor. 

As  a  result  of  this  inquiry  he  decided  on  Dr.  Rixey,  and  for  three 
years  that  officer  was  constantly  in  attendance  on  the  President  and  his 
wife.  He  always  accompanied  Mrs.  McKinley  on  her  railroad  journeys 
with  the  President  and  was  with  her  when  she  was  taken  so  seriously  ill 
in  California  in  the  spring  previous  to  the  shooting  of  the  President. 


CHAPTER  XL 

INTENSE  HORROR  THROUGHOUT  THE  WORLD  WHEN  THE  NEWS  OF  THE 
SHOOTING  OF  PRESIDENT  McKiNLEY  BECAME  KNOWN — MESSAGES 
OF  CONDOLENCE  AND  SYMPATHY  RECEIVED  FROM  ALL  PARTS  OF  THE 
EARTH — GREAT  GRIEF  SHOWN. 


It  would  be  impossible  to  give  an  adequate  idea  of  the  intense  horror 
the  assassination  of  President  McKinley  created  in  the  United  States  and 
throughout  the  world.  The  people  absolutely  refused  to  believe  it  at  first, 
but  when  the  cruel  rumor  was  confirmed  there  was  gloom  everywhere. 
Why  a  murderer  should  have  selected  the  Chief  Executive  of  the  great 
North  American  Republic  as  his  victim  none  could  understand. 

It  was  well  known  that,  after  the  killing  of  King  Humbert  of  Italy, 
in  1900,  by  Bresci,  the  anarchist,  the  statement  was  made  that  the  Reds 
had  marked  President  McKinley,  the  Emperor  of  Germany  and  the  Czar 
of  Russia  for  death,  but  no  one  dreamed  that  this  meant  danger  to  the 
beloved  head  of  the  United  States  Government. 

The  morning  succeeding  the  shooting  of  the  President  at  Buffalo  the 
State  Department  at  Washington  was  flooded  with  cablegrams  and  tele- 
graph messages,  all  expressing  the  gravest  concern,  and  by  noon  the 
Department  was  prepared  to  make  public  some  of  the  messages  that 
had  been  received,  abandoning  the  idea  of  holding  them  in  hand  until 
the  list  was  complete. 

These  messages  came  from  crowned  heads,  from  foreign  Ministers, 
from  resident  Ministers  of  foreign  countries  in  the  United  States,  and 
from  individuals  of  distinction.  Some  of  them  follow: 

From  the  German  Emperor  and  Empress : 

"Koenigsberg — The  Empress  and  I  horrified  at  the  attempt  planned 
against  your  husband.  Express  our  deepest  sympathy,  hoping  that  God 
may  restore  to  health  Mr.  McKinley.  WILLIAM,  I.  R. 

"VICTORIA,  I.  R." 

From  the  President  of  the  French  Republic : 

"Rombouillet — With  keen  affliction  I  learn  the  news  of  the  heinous 
attempt  of  which  your  Excellency  has  just  been  a  victim.  I  take  it  to 

170 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  171 

heart  to  join  with  the  people  of  the  United  States  in  wishing  the  early 
recovery  of  your  Excellency,  and  I  earnestly  desire  in  this  sorrowful 
juncture  to  renew  to  you  the  assurance  of  my  sentiments  of  constant 
and  cordial  friendship.  EMILE  LOUBET." 

The  following  telegram  was  received  from  King  Edward,  who  was 
at  Kiel: 

"Please  send  immediately  to  the  American  Embassy  ana  offer  my 
deepest  sympathy  on  the  dastardly  attempt  on  the  life  of  the  President. 
I  have  telegraphed  direct  to  the  President.  Please  keep  me  informed  as 
to  his  condition." 

From  the  President  of  Guatemala : 

"Guatemala — My  government  and  I  most  heartfully  lament  the 
unhappy  event.  Be  pleased  to  receive  our  profound  sorrow. 

"M.  ESTRADA  C." 

From  New  South  Wales : 

"Sydney — The  government  and  people  of  New  South  Wales  join 
with  me  in  expressing  our  deep  sympathy  with  you  in  your  sufferings 
and  our  sorrow  at  the  crime  which  has  been  committed.  We  pray  that 
the  Almighty  in  His  infinite  goodness  may  spare  you  to  your  people. 

"FREDERICK  M.  DARLEY." 

From  the  Italian  Ambassador: 

"Rome — I  am  deeply  grieved  at  the  terrible  crime.  I  trust  the  Presi- 
dent will  be  spared  to  his  country  and  his  friends.  BARON  FAVA." 

From  the  German  Ambassador : 

"Bremen — Please  accept  the  expression  of  my  most  sincere  and  hearty 
regret  on  account  of  the  dreadful  accident  the  President  has  met  with. 
Please  convey  this  message,  if  possible,  to  the  President  and  Mrs.  McKin- 
ley.  HOLLEBEN." 

From  the  Methodist  Conference : 

"London — Tn  accordance  with  action  taken  on  this  7th  day  of  Sep- 
tember this  Ecumenical  Methodist  Conference,  assembled  in  Wesley 
Chapel,  London,  expresses  to  the  American  people  its  intense  indignation 
at  the  dastardly  attempt  on  the  life  of  the  President  of  the  United  States 
and  its  profound  sympathy  with  the  nation  in  its  deep  anxiety. 

"JOHN  BOND, 
"JAMES  M.  KING, 

"Secretaries." 


172  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

From  the  French  Foreign  Minister: 

"Paris — I  beg  your  Excellency  to  accept  the  expression  of  profound 
horror  inspired  in  the  French  nation  and  government,  ever  ready  to  share 
the  sorrows  as  well  as  the  joys  of  the  people  of  the  United  States,  by  the 
attempt  on  President  McKinley's  life  and  our  ardent  wishes  for  the  early 
recovery  of  the  noble  chief  of  the  great  American  Republic. 

"DELCASSE." 

From  the  Canadian  Premier: 

"Ottawa — To  Lord  Pauncefote,  British  Embassy :  I  have  the  com- 
mand of  his  Excellency  the  Governor  General  to  ask  your  Lordship  to 
convey  to  Mr.  Hay,  the  Secretary  of  State,  the  expression  of  the  sense  of 
horror  with  which  the  government  and  people  of  Canada  have  learned  of 
the  fiendish  attempt  upon  the  life  of  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
and  the  deep  sympathy  which  they  feel  in  the  distress  of  the  American 
nation  and  Mr.  McKinley's  family.  They  fervently  hope  and  pray  that  it 
may  please  Providence  to  foil  the  hand  of  the  assassin  and  preserve  a  life 
held  in  such  high  reverence,  not  only  by  the  people  of  the  United  States, 
but  by  all  other  nations,  and  particularly  by  the  people  of  the  Dominion 
of  Canada.  WILFRID  LAURIER." 

From  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  at  Nicaragua  : 

"Leon,  Nicaragua,  Sept.  7. — The  cable  has  just  advised  us  of  the 
attempted  assassination  made  against  President  McKinley.  The  Govern- 
ment and  people  of  Nicaragua,  bound  as  it  is  to  this  great  nation,  with 
whose  friendship  it  is  honored,  deplore  the  tragedy  and  trust  that  his 
Excellency  Mr.  McKinley  recover  from  the  wounds  which  treacherous 
villainy  has  caused  him.  With  expressions  of  distinguished  consideration, 
I  remain  your  obedient  servant,  FERDINANDO  SANCHEZ, 

"Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs." 

From  the  Charge  d' Affaires  of  the  United  States  at  Guatemala  City : 
"Guatemala,  Sept.   7. — President     Cabrera     requests     information 

regarding  attempted  assassination  of  President  McKinley. 

"BAILEY." 

From  the  Prime  Minister  of  Cape  Town  to  the  President : 
"Cape  Town,  Sept.  7. — On  behalf  of  Government  and  people  of 

Colony  I  desire  to  express  the  deepest  sympathy  with  you  in  your  terrible 

affliction  and  the  hope  that  your  life  may  be  spared  for  the  good  of  the 

great  country  over  whose  destinies  you  preside. 

"PRIME  MINISTER,  Cape  Town." 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  177 

From  the  London  Commissioner  of  Victoria : 

"London,  Sept.  7. — On  behalf  of  the  State  of  Victoria  I  desire  to 
express  its  profound  sorrow  and  indignation  at  the  outrage  on  the  Presi- 
dent. ANDREW  CLARKE." 

Municipalities  in  England  and  Scotland  to  the  Secretary  of  State : 

From  the  Lord  Provost  of  Glasgow : 

"Glasgow,  Sept.  7. — The  Lord  Provost  of  Glasgow  desires  to  express 
in  the  name  of  the  Corporation  and  of  the  entire  community  their  pro- 
found grief  and  indignation  at  the  attempt  made  on  the  life  of  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States.  They  cherish  the  deepest  sympathy  with  him 
in  his  present  sufferings  and  with  the  people  of  the  American  Republic 
in  the  distress  into  which  this  act  has  plunged  them,  and  they  fondly  hope 
that  God  will  graciously  grant  the  suffering  President  a  complete  and 
speedy  recovery.  SAMUEL  CHISHOLM,  Lord  Provost." 

From  the  Lord  Mayor  of  Leeds,  England: 

"Leeds,  Sept.  7. — Lord  Mayor  and  citizens  of  Leeds,  England,  have 
received  intimation  of  attempted  assassination  of  President  McKinley 
with  feelings  of  profound  indignation  and  abhorrence.  They  offer  to  the 
citizens  of  the  United  States  their  deepest  sympathy  and  fervently  hope 
that  the  life  of  the  President  may  be  spared. 

"LAWSON,  Lord  Mayor." 

From  the  Lord  Mayor  of  Liverpool: 

"Liverpool,  Sept.  7. — On  behalf  of  the  citizens  of  Liverpool  I  beg 
to  offer  the  expression  of  their  deepest  sympathy  with  the  Government 
and  people  of  the  United  States  and  their  deep  abhorrence  of  the  crime 
which  has  placed  in  jeopardy  the  life  of  a  President  who  has  done  so 
much  to  maintain  the  cordial  relations  which  they  trust  will  ever  continue 
between  this  country  and  the  United  States.  I  earnestly  trust  that  by  the 
help  of  Almighty  God  the  life  of  the  President  may  be  spared. 

"ARTHUR  CROSTHWAITE,  Lord  Mayor." 

From  the  Belgian  Minister  to  Washington : 

"Ecaussines,  Belgium,  Sept.  7. — Accept  expressions  my  sentiments  of 
indignation  and  grief  for  awful  attempt.  LICHTERVELDE." 

From  the  Danish  Minister : 

"Bar  Harbor,  Me.,  Sept.  7. — In  the  name  of  my  Government  and  in 
my  own  I  beg  to  express  deepest  sympathy  on  account  of  atrocious  crime 
committed  against  the  President  and  sincerest  wishes  for  recovery. 

"BRUN." 


178  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

From  the  Minister  of  Sweden  and  Norway : 

"Bar  Harbor,  Me.,  Sept.  7. — I  beg  to  express  to  you  my  horror  at 
the  abominable  attempt  and  my  congratulations  that  the  President's  val- 
uable life  was  spared.  I  have  wired  my  sympathy  direct  to  Mr.  Cor- 
telyou.  A.  GRIP." 

From  the  Minister  of  Haiti : 

"Deer  Park,  Md.,  Sept.  7. — I  heard  of  sad  news  of  criminal  attempt 
on  President's  life.  I  beg  to  convey  the  heartfelt  sympathy  of  my  Gov- 
ernment and  people,  of  my  own  and  our  best  wishes  for  the  President's 
recovery.  LEGER." 

From  the  Minister  of  Guatemala : 

"Deer  Park,  Md.,  Sept.  7. — Deeply  impressed  by  the  awful  crime,  I 
wish  to  express  to  you  my  great  regret  and  sincerely  hope  for  the  recovery 
of  the  illustrious  President  McKinley.  A.  LAZO  ARRIAGA." 

From  the  Charge  d' Affaires  of  Switzerland : 

"Manchester,  Mass.,  Sept.  7. — Deeply  deploring  odious  attempt 
against  President's  life,  I  beg  to  express  ray  sincere  hope  that  his  precious 
life  may  be  spared  to  his  country.  LARDY." 

From  the  Mexican  Ambassador  to  the  United  States : 
"Buffalo,  Sept.  6. — The  Mexican  Ambassador  expresses  to  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States  his  deep  regrets  for  the  atrocious  attempt 
against  the  life  of  his  Excellency  President  McKinley.  The  diplomatic 
representatives  of  Ecuador,  Costa  Rica,  Spain,  Japan,  Peru,  Colombia, 
Corea,  Turkey,  Russia,  Venezuela,  Brazil  and  China,  at  present  in  this 
city,  have  requested  the  Ambassador  to  express  in  their  names  the  same 
sentiment.  M.  DE  AZPIROZ." 

From  the  Charge  d' Affaires  of  the  Dominican  Republic : 
"New  York,  Sept.  6. — Heartily  deplore  the  criminal  attempt  on  the 
person  of  his  Excellency  President  McKinley,  and  hope  he  may  have  a 
very  speedy  recovery.  F.  L.  VASQUEZ." 

From  the  Minister  of  France  in  Switzerland  and  formerly  Charge 
d' Affaires  of  France  in  Washington: 

"Berne,  Sept.  7. — Please  convey  to  the  President  respectful  sympa- 
thy and  wishes  for  speedy  recovery.  THIEBAUL." 

From  Bishop  S.  Barretti  of  Havana  to  the  War  Department : 
"Sincerest  sympathy  in  nation's  sorrow.    I  pray  God  for  President's 
recovery.    May  God  grant  his  recovery." 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  179 

From  Emilio  Nunez,  Havana: 

"I  regret  the  sad  news  of  the  President's  accident  and  I  hope  for  * 
speedy  recovery." 

From  the  Charge  d'Affaires  of  Great  Britain  in  the  United  States 
to  the  Secretary  of  State: 

"Newport,  R.  L,  Sept.  7. — I  am  directed  to  express  the  King's  deep- 
est sympathy  at  the  dastardly  attempt  on  the  President.  Lord  Lans- 
downe  and  the  members  of  the  Cabinet  beg  me  also  to  express  their  deep- 
est sympathy  to  the  United  States  Government. 

"GERARD  LOWTHER." 

The  King  of  Portugal  to  Mrs.  McKinley: 

"Cascaes,  Sept.  7. — Accept,  Madame,  the  expression  of  my  full  sym- 
pathy on  this,  so  grievous  an  occasion.  KING  OF  PORTUGAL." 

From  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  of  Venezuela : 
"Caracas,  Sept.  7. — Government  of  Venezuela  execrates  Buffalo  at- 
tempt and  makes  wishes  for  the  health  of  President." 

From  the  Under  Secretary  of  State  of  Canada : 

"Quebec,  Sept.  7. — May  I  be  permitted  to  add  my  personal  tribute 
of  sorrow  at  the  sad  news  of  yesterday.  I  pray  that  the  dastardly  attempt 
may  fail,  and  that  President  McKinley's  life  may  long  be  spared  for  the 
good  of  the  American  people.  JOSEPH  POPE." 

From  the  United  States  Minister  at  Berne,  Switzerland : 
"Berne,  Sept.  7. — Federal  Council  sends  deep  sympathy  and  sincere 
wishes  for  prompt  recovery.  HARDY." 

From  the  Chancellor  of  the  German  Empire : 

"Berlin,  Sept.  7. — Accept  the  expression  of  my  warmest  sympathy 
with  the  deep  sorrow  which  has  fallen  on  the  Government  and  people 
of  the  United  States  by  an  execrable  crime.  God  save  the  life  of  the 
President  so  grievously  endangered.  COUNT  VON  BULOW." 

From  the  Charge  d'Affaires  of  the  Netherlands  to  the  Secretary  of 
State : 

"Pequot  House,  New  London,  Conn.,  Sept.  7. — I  am  instructed  to 
offer  to  the  American  Government  assurance  of  keen  and  painful  sympa- 
thy of  my  Government  by  reason  of  awful  attempt  on  President's  life 
and  to  express  the  best  wishes  for  speedy  recovery. 

"VAN  ROIJER." 


i8o  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

From  the  Belgian  Charge  d' Affaires : 

"Newport,  R.  I.,  Sept.  7. — I  pray  your  Excellency  to  express  to 
President  McKinley  my  deepest  sympathy  and  most  sincere  regrets  on 
account  of  the  shocking  attempt  on  the  President's  life. 

"WAUTERS,  Charge." 

From  the  United  States  Ambassador  at  the  City  of  Mexico : 
"City  of  Mexico,  Sept.  7. — Attempted  assassination  produced  pro- 
found sensation  here  of  mingled  horror  and  sympathy.  President  Maris- 
cal  and  other  members  of  the  Cabinet  called  at  Embassy  last  night, 
expressing  their  deep  sympathy,  likewise  their  diplomatic  and  other 
prominent  people  of  all  nationalities.  Greatly  relieved  to  know  that 
wounds  are  not  necessarily  fatal.  CLAYTON." 

From  the  political  Governor  of  Ensanada,  Lower  California : 
"Ensanada,  Mexico,  Sept.  6. — May  your  Excellency  be  pleased  to 
accept  the  expression  of  my  sorrow  at  the  misfortune  of  which  President 
McKinley  is  the  victim.  M.  SANGINEZ." 

The  Argentine  Minister  to  the  United  States  to  the  Acting  Secre- 
tary of  State : 

"Long  Branch,  N.  J.,  Sept.  7. — Convey  to  you  the  feelings  of  sorrow 
and  deprecation  for  savage  attack  upon  life  of  President  of  the  United 
States.  With  earnest  hopes  that  his  noble  life  may  be  spared  for  the 
happiness  of  his  people.  M.  GARCIA  MEROU." 

From  the  Ambassador  of  the  United  States  at  Paris : 
"Paris,  Sept.  7. — Government  and  all  classes  of  people  here  deeply 
touched  by  appalling  news  of  attempted  assassination  of  President  and 
warm  in  expression  of  condolence.  I  tender  profoundest  sympathy  and 
most  earnest  hope  for  recovery  from  all  members  of  Embassy.  Your 
cable  just  received.  Please  advise  me  of  any  changes  in  condition. 

"PORTER." 

From  the  Consul-General  of  the  United  States  at  Guayaquil,  Ecua- 
dor: 

"Guayaquil,  Sept.  7. — Horror  intense.  Grief  universal.  God  save 
President.  DE  LEON." 

From,  the  Consular  Agent  of  the  United  States  on  Prince  Edward 
Island : 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  181 

"Summerside,  Sept.  7. — I  am  directed  by  the  Mayor  and  Corporation 
of  Summerside  to  convey  through  you  to  Mrs.  McKinley  and  family  the 
heartfelt  sympathy  of  the  people  of  this  town  and  also  to  express  their 
horror  of  the  crime  that  has  been  so  ruthlessly  committed  in  that  attempt- 
ed assassination  of  so  noble  a  man  as  President  McKinley. 

"RICHARD  HUNT." 

From  the  Italian  Charge  d' Affaires : 

"Manchester,  Mass.,  Sept.  7. — Horrified,  dastardly  attempt  against 
President.  I  beg  you  to  accept  the  expression  of  my  deepest  sympathy 
and  sincerely  hope  early  recovery.  CARIGNANI." 

From  the  Minister  of  Nicaragua  to  the  United  States : 
"Paris,   Sept.  7. — Please  convey   President  McKinley  and  all  the 
members  of  your  Excellency's  Government  my  sincere  and  deep  sympa- 
thy. COREA." 

From  the  Governor  of  Louisiana : 

"Baton  Rouge,  La.,  Sept.  7. — Have  just  heard  with  profound  sor- 
row of  the  dastardly  assassination  of  President  McKinley.  Am  at  a  loss 
to  understand  how  any  one  could  have  found  it  in  his  heart  to  take  the 
life  of  so  amiable  a  personality  as  was  that  of  the  President.  It  is  a 
public  calamity  and  I  voice  the  general  sentiment  of  the  people  of  Lou- 
isiana in  saying  that  the  President's  taking  off  is  deeply  deplored  and 
mourned  by  all.  W.  H.  HEARD,  Governor." 

From  President  James  D.  Thurburn  of  the  Liverpool  Cotton  Asso- 
ciation : 

"Liverpool,  Sept.  7. — The  members  of  the  Liverpool  Cotton  Associa- 
tion desire  to  express  their  sympathy  with  the  American  people  in  the 
dastardly  attempt  upon  the  life  of  their  President  and  they  earnestly  hope 
that  his  valuable  life  may  be  spared. 

"JAMES  D.  THURBURN,  President." 

From  ex-Senator  William  V.  Allen: 

"Madison,  Neb.,  Sept.  6. — The  appalling  news  of  the  assassination 
of  the  President  has  just  reached  us.  The  people  of  Nebraska  are  pro- 
foundly shocked.  May  God  deal  gently  with  his  wife  and  may  swift 
justice  be  meted  to  his  murderer." 

From  the  Cosmopolitan  Club  of  Santiago,  Cuba : 
"Americans,   foreign   colony,   residents  Santiago,   greatly  shocked, 
praying  for  recovery  of  the  President." 


182  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

From  the  President  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  Chicago : 
"Chicago,  Sept.  7. — The  Board  of  Trade  of  the  City  of  Chicago  at 
its  meeting  held  today,  desires  in  this  hour  of  private  and  public  affliction 
to  express  through  you  their  profound  sympathy  with  the  President  and 
his  stricken  family  and  with  yourself  and  with  other  members  of  the 
Cabinet  and  hope  for  a  speedy  recovery. 

"WILLIAM  S.  WARREN,  President." 

From  A.  B.  Hamilton,  Commander: 

"The  Fourteenth  Annual  Encampment  of  the  Southern  California 
Veteran  Encampment  Association  assembled  at  Coronado,  Cal.,  express 
to  their  comrade,  the  President,  and  his  family,  their  great  sorrow  in  the 
affliction  and  their  horror  at  the  attempt  upon  his  life.  They  hope  for  his 
garly  recovery." 

From  the  Mayor  of  Goderich,  Canada : 

"Goderich,  Ont.,  Sept.  7. — At  a  meeting  of  the  Town  Council  held 
here  last  evening  it  was  resolved  that  the  sympathy  of  the  people  of 
Goderich  be  tendered  Mrs.  McKinley  and  the  American  nation  on  the 
blow  inflicted  on  them  by  the  hand  of  an  assassin,  and  they  hope  that 
the  Ruler  of  Nations  will  spare  President  McKinley  to  his  people. 

"JAMES  WILSON,  Mayor." 

From  the  Free  Baptists  of  America : 

"Harper's  Ferry,  W.  Va.,  Sept.  7.— For  Mrs.  McKinley :  The  Free 
Baptists  of  America  assembled  in  triennial  conference  at  Harper's  Ferry, 
W.  Va.,  rejoice  that  the  beloved  President  lives,  and  pray  that  a  kind 
Providence  may  restore  him  in  health  to  his  exalted  office. 

"R.  D.  LARD,  President." 

The  Secretary  of  State  received  a  telegram  from  Gustav  M.  Schwab, 
dated  New  York,  saying  that  he  had  been  instructed  by  the  North  German 
Lloyd  Company  of  Bremen  to  express  their  heartfelt  sympathy  with  their 
hope  for  a  speedy  recovery  of  President  McKinley. 

The  Secretary  of  State  received  a  telegram  signed  by  A.  P.  Graham, 
Lieutenant  Colonel,  and  A.  J.  Turner,  Adjutant,  reading: 

"British  Naval  and  Military  Veterans'  Association  deplore  the  das- 
tardly attempt  on  life  of  President  of  United  States.  All  lands  in  sym- 
pathy and  horror.  May  God  preserve  the  President." 

From  the  resident  Americans  of  Nassau,  N.  P.: 
"Nassau,  Sept.   7. — We  tender  deepest  regrets  and   sympathy  to 
President  on  account  of  dastardly  attempt  at  assassination." 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  183 

Methodists  pass  vote  of  sympathy: 

London,  Sept.  7. — When  the  International  Methodist  Ecumenical 
Conference  met  today,  with  Bishop  Arnett  acting  as  president,  a  vote 
of  sympathy  with  President  McKinley  was  passed  and  a  prayer  offered 
for  his  recovery. 

Among  those  who  spoke  on  the  resolution  was  the  Rev.  Dr.  Bristol, 
who  was  formerly  the  President's  pastor.  He  said  that  Mr.  McKinley 
was  the  only  President  who  had  been  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Church. 
Bishop  Gaines,  of  Georgia,  also  made  an  address  on  the  President. 

From  the  Carter  Harrison  League : 

Chicago,  Sept.  7. — The  Carter  H.  Harrison  League  adjourned  its 
meeting  last  night  out  of  respect  to  President  McKinley,  after  unani- 
mously adopting  this  resolution: 

"We  take  this  earliest  opportunity  of  condemning  the  most  cowardly 
attack  on  our  highest  Executive.  We  hope  for  his  speedy  recovery  and 
pray  that  his  good  wife  may  bear  this  great  calamity  to  her  and  the 
nation  with  fortitude." 

Inquiries  from  the  people  of  Cuba: 

Havana,  Sept.  7. — Hundreds  of  telegrams  were  received  at  the 
Palace  today  inquiring  after  President  McKinley's  condition.  They  came 
from  all  parts  of  the  island,  from  Mayors,  Judges,  foreign  Consuls  and 
the  people  generally,  and  all  expressed  most  sincere  sympathy.  The 
Constitutional  Convention  adopted  a  resolution  that  on  account  of  the 
shooting  of  President  McKinley  a  committee  should  be  sent  to  Governor 
General  Wood  to  ask  him  to  telegraph  their  sympathy  in  the  name  of  the 
convention.  As  a  further  mark  of  respect  the  Constitutional  Convention 
decided  not  to  hold  any  session  today. 

From  President  Lincoln's  home: 

Springfield,  111.,  Sept.  7. — Acting  Governor  Northcott  spoke  sympa- 
thetically when  asked  for  an  expression  concerning  the  attempted  assass- 
ination of  President  McKinley.  He  said: 

"I  do  not  think  that  the  attempted  assassination  of  President  Mc- 
Kinley is  evidence  of  any  insecurity  of  our  form  of  government  or  of 
any  evil  in  the  social  conditions  of  our  country.  The  accident  of  assass- 
ination by  insane  persons  may  occur  in  any  form  of  government  and  any 
civilization. 

"The  sorrow  of  the  American  people  at  this  tragedy  is  beyond  ex- 
pression. No  man  since  Lincoln  has  been  more  loved  and  respected  than 


184  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

President  McKinley.     He  was  the  most  effective  friend  of  the  laboring 
man  in  American  history." 

Governor  Northcott  last  night  telegraphed  sympathy  to  Secretary 
Cortelyou. 

From  ex-Vice-President  Adlai  Stevenson: 

Bloomington,  111.,  Sept.  7. — Former  Vice-President  Adlai  Stevenson 
was  profoundly  shocked  by  the  intelligence  of  the  shooting  of  President 
McKinley. 

"The  report  of  the  attempted  assassination  of  President  McKinley 
is  indeed  appalling,"  he  said.  "The  tidings  will  bring  unspeakable  grief 
to  the  hearts  of  all  his  countrymen.  He  is  a  man  of  the  kindliest  feeling 
and  could  have  no  personal  enemy." 

Messages  from  Manila: 

Washington,  Sept.  7. — Acting  Secretary  of  War  Gillespie  and  Acting 
Adjutant  General  Ward  sent  telegrams  respectively  last  night  to  Gover- 
nor Taft  and  Major  General  Chaff ee  at  Manila,  telling  of  the  attempted 
assassination  of  the  President.  This  morning  the  following  responses 
were  received: 

"Sympathy  and  solicitude  for  President  from  army  in  Philippines. 

"CHAFFEE." 

"Greatly  shocked  by  report  that  President  has  been  shot.  Anxiously 
awaiting  exact  information.  TAFT." 

Sympathy  from  Nashville: 

Nashville,  Tenn.,  Sept.  7. — The  City  Council  met  in  special  session 
today  and  adopted  resolutions  strongly  condemning  the  attempted  assass- 
ination of  President  McKinley  and  expressing  sympathy  for  the  Presi- 
dent. 

From  the  Amalgamated  Association : 

Pittsburg,  Pa.,  Sept.  7. — The  Executive  Board  of  the  Amalgamated 
Association  was  in  session  when  the  news  of  the  attack  on  McKinley 
reached  strike  headquarters,  and  the  telephone  was  kept  busy  until  the 
board  adjourned  with  inquiries  directed  to  newspaper  offices  for  bulletins. 

T.  J.  Shaffer,  the  head  of  the  strike,  said: 

"This  is  awful.  I  do  not  see  how  any  man  could  do  so  atrocious  a 
deed.  Mr.  McKinley  is  a  kindly  man  and  as  President  of  the  United 
States  should  be  respected  by  all.  There  is  no  punishment  which  human 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  185 

hands  can  inflict  that  is  severe  enough  for  such  a  man.    Is  there  no  secure 
protection  for  our  President  in  public  places?" 

M.  F.  Tighe,  the  Amalgamated  Assistant  Secretary  and  next  to 
Shaffer  the  most  prominent  man  in  the  strike,  said : 

"President  McKinley  was  a  friend  to  everybody,  yet  this  man  tries 
to  kill  him.  It  would  be  a  great  loss  to  the  country  if  he  should  not 
recover.  But  why  do  the  American  people  not  do  away  with  the  sense- 
less custom  of  crowding  up  to  shake  hands  with  their  President?  It 
wears  out  a  man  and  really  means  nothing  to  the  people  themselves." 

Secretary  John  Bishop  of  the  Ohio  State  Board  of  Arbitration,  and 
a  former  president  of  the  Amalgamated,  who  came  to  Pittsburg  yesterday 
in  connection  with  the  new  efforts  at  strike  settlement,  said : 

"The  strikers  and  every  workman  will  warmly  sympathize  with 
Mr.  McKinley,  for  he  has  always  been  known  as  a  friend  of  the  working- 
man.  Not  only  has  he  always  had  the  interests  of  the  workingman  at 
heart,  but  the  President  has  been  a  close  student  of  economic  and  indus- 
trial problems,  and  the  legislation  that  has  resulted  from  that  study  has 
proved  a  great  blessing  to  labor.  President  McKinley  by  his  efforts  has 
placed  work  in  the  hands  of  tens  of  thousands  who  needed  employment. 
He  has  been  a  great  benefactor  and  always  a  friend  of  humanity.  For 
that  reason  every  heart  is  now  going  out  toward  him." 

Among  the  groups  that  watched  the  newspaper  office  for  bulletins 
were  many  of  the  steel  strikers,  and  they  were  foremost  in  expressions 
of  regret  over  the  deed  and  anger  at  the  perpetrator. 

Day  of  prayer  in  Maryland : 

Baltimore,  Sept.  7. — Gov.  John  Walter  Smith  today  issued  a  formal 
proclamation  setting  apart  next  Tuesday,  Sept.  loth,  as  a  day  of  prayer 
for  the  recovery  of  President  McKinley.  All  citizens  of  Maryland  are 
requested  to  lay  aside  their  customary  duties  and  to  close  their  places 
of  business  for  at  least  a  part  of  the  day  and  to  repair  to  their  accustomed 
places  of  worship  and  petition  the  Almighty  to  avert  such  a  national 
calamity  as  would  be  the  death  of  the  President  at  the  hands  of  an 
assassin. 

When  it  is  said  that  the  proclamation  is  formal,  it  is  meant  that  it 
was  issued  with  all  the  form  and  requisites  provided  by  law  and  by  virtue 
of  the  official  authority  of  the  Chief  Executive  of  the  State.  The  Gover- 
nor spoke  most  feelingly  today  of  President  McKinley.  He  said; 


186  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

"It  is  not  only  my  personal  inclination,  but  I  think  it  my  duty  as  a 
representative  of  the  people  of  Maryland  to  issue  this  proclamation.  I 
had  intended  to  leave  town  early  this  morning,  but  remained  to  attend 
to  this  matter.  The  date  should,  of  course,  be  as  early  as  possible,  but  I 
have  fixed  Tuesday  as  the  earliest  possible  time  to  reach  all  the  people 
of  the  State  through  the  press." 

Endeavorers  in  sorrow: 

Boston,  Sept.  7. — President  Francis  E.  Clark  of  the  World's  Chris- 
tian Endeavor  this  afternoon  gave  out  the  following: 

"President  McKinley  has  always  manifested  the  deepest  interest 
in  the  Christian  Endeavor  Societies,  sending  a  message  every  year  to 
their  annual  convention  and  frequently  remembering  the  Christian  En- 
deavor birthday  in  February  with  a  congratulatory  message.  It  is  nat- 
ural, then,  that  the  members  of  this  society  in  all  parts  of  the  world 
should  feel  with  a  peculiar  sorrow  the  blow  that  has  come  to  the  Presi- 
dent and  his  household." 

A  British  Columbia  Christian  Endeavor  convention,  which  was  in 
session,  sent  the  following  telegram  to  Secretary  Baer  of  the  United  So- 
ciety : 

"British  Columbia  Union  of  Christian  Endeavor  in  session  send 
heartfelt  sympathy  in  your  national  sorrow  and  pray  that  God  may  spare 
the  President's  life.  MARGARET  MACFARLANE,  Secretary." 

On  receipt  of  this  President  Clark  telegraphed  to  Mrs.  McKinley : 
"British  Columbia  Christian  Endeavorers  in  convention  assembled 
today  join  in  fervent  prayer  for  President  McKinley.     Millions  of  En- 
deavorers in  all  parts  of  the  world  will  follow  this  example.     God  spare 
our  beloved  President's  life." 

General  Cabell  wants  vengeance: 

New  Orleans,  La.,  Sept.  7. — General  W.  L.  Cabell,  one  of  the  few 
surviving  Confederate  Generals,  came  to  New  Orleans  today  from  his 
home  in  Dallas,  Tex. 

"I  would  gladly  lead  a  detachment  of  my  old  men,"  he  said,  "and 
go  to  Buffalo  for  the  purpose  of  attending  to  the  assassin's  case  in  person. 
It  was  an  outrage  on  the  good  name  of  the  people  of  the  whole  nation 
that  the  crime  should  be  attempted.  We  must  stop  such  outbreaks  of 
anarchy  and  lawlessness,  and  the  quicker  the  better  for  the  entire  country." 


CHAPTER  XII. 

REMARKABLE  JOURNEY  OF  THE  FUNERAL  TRAIN  FROM  BUFFALO  TO  THE 
NATIONAL  CAPITAL — DETAILS  OF  THE  TRIP — SCENES  NEVER  BEFORE 
WITNESSED — CHILDREN  STREW  FLOWERS  ALONG  THE  RAILS — GRIEF 
OF  THE  MULTITUDES. 


Over  a  route  of  four  hundred  and  twenty  miles  in  length,  amid  the 
tolling  of  bells  and  through  endless  lanes  of  mourning  people  that  at  every 
town,  village  and  hamlet  lined  the  track  far  out  into  the  fields,  the  funeral 
train  that  bore  both  a  dead  and  a  living  President  traveled  from  Buffalo 
to  Washington  September  i6th  in  a  journey  that  is  destined  to  be  recorded 
as  a  dramatic  episode  in  one  of  the  saddest  tragedies  in  American  history. 

It  was  a  solemn  pageant  all  the  way  from  Buffalo  up  over  the  Alle- 
ghanies,  down  into  the  broad  valley  of  the  Susquehanna,  and  on  to  the 
marble  city  on  the  banks  of  the  shining  Potomac.  It  was  the  nation's 
murdered  President's  last  journey  to  the  seat  of  the  Government  over 
which  he  presided  for  four  and  one-half  years. 

Fully  half  a  million  persons  saw  the  train  during  its  trip. 

FLOWERS  STREWN  OVER  THE  TRACK. 

At  many  cities  and  towns  school  children  and  young  women  had 
strewn  flowers  on  the  track,  hiding  the  rails,  and  the  engine  wheels  cut 
their  way  through  the  fragrant  masses  of  blooms  spread  out  to  show  the 
love  felt  for  the  dead  President. 

The  whole  country  seemed  to  have  assembled  its  population  at  the 
sides  of  the  track  over  which  the  funeral  train  passed.  The  thin  lines 
through  the  mountains  and  the  sparsely  settled  districts  thickened  at  the 
little  hamlets,  covered  acres  in  towns  suddenly  grown  to  the  proportions  of 
respectable  cities,  and  were  congested  into  vast  multitudes  in  the  larger 
cities. 

Work  was  suspended  in  field  and  mine  and  city.  The  schools  were 
dismissed.  And  everywhere  appeared  the  trappings  and  tokens  of  woe. 
A  million  flags  at  half-mast  dotted  hillside  and  valley  and  formed  a  thicket 
of  color  over  the  cities.  And  from  almost  every  banner  streamed  a  bit  of 
crape. 

187 


:88  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

At  all  the  larger  towns  and  cities  after  the  train  got  into  Pennsylvania 
militiamen  drawn  up  at  present  arms  kept  back  the  enormous  crowds. 

GAZED  IN  SILENCE  ON  CASKET. 

The  silence  with  which  the  countless  thousands  viewed  the  remains 
of  their  hero  was  oppressive  and  profound. 

Only  the  rumbling  of  the  train's  wheels,  the  sobs  from  men  and 
women  with  tear-stained  faces,  and  the  doleful  tolling  of  the  church  bells 
broke  on  the  ear.  At  several  places — Williamsport,  Harrisburg  and  Bal- 
timore— the  chimes  played  Cardinal  Newman's  grand  hymn. 

Taken  altogether  the  journey  was  the  most  remarkable  demonstra- 
tion of  universal  personal  sorrow  since  Lincoln  was  borne  to  his  grave. 

BIER  EVER  IN  VIEW  OF  PEOPLE. 

Every  one  of  those  who  came  to  pay  their  last  tribute  to  the  dead 
had  an  opportunity  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  flag-covered  bier  elevated  to 
view  in  the  observation  car  at  the  rear  of  the  train. 

There  was  no  other  bit  of  bright  color  to  catch  the  eye  on  this  train  of 
death.  The  locomotive  was  shrouded  in  black,  the  curtains  of  the  cars 
in  which  sat  the  widow,  the  relatives  of  the  President,  Cabinet  officers, 
and  others  were  drawn.  The  whole  black  train  was  like  a  shuttered  house, 
save  only  for  the  last  car,  where  the  body  lay  guarded  by  a  soldier  of  the 
army  and  a  sailor  of  the  navy. 

It  was  not  solely  in  and  near  the  towns  and  villages  these  mute  mourn- 
ers stood  as  the  train,  with  steady,  even  pace,  swept  by.  In  the  depths  of 
the  country  itself,  far  away  from  centers  of  population,  were  clusters  of 
people  whose  travel-stained  vehicles  bore  evidence  of  long  journeys,  begun 
perhaps  with  the  early  dawn,  to  the  nearest  point  on  the  railroad  where 
the  train  would  pass. 

It  was  no  mere  morbid  curiosity  that  brought  them  there.  That  was 
evidenced  by  the  sad  faces  and  the  simple  emblems  of  sorrow  that  they 
bore,  touching  little  badges  and  draperies  that  told  of  the  sympathetic 
work  of  women's  hands  in  remote  farmhouses,  the  symbols  above  all 
others  that  most  would  have  stirred  the  heart  of  him  for  whose  memory 
they  were  wrought. 

Even  more  impressive  than  these  were  the  farm  laborers  in  the  dis- 
tant fields  halting  in  their  work  and  standing  with  bared  heads  as  the  train 
passed  by* 

WOMEN  AND  CHILDREN  MOURN. 

But  above  all  was  remarkable  the  vast  outpouring  of  women  and 
children.  It  was  the  story  of  Buffalo  throngs  repeated  over  again  in  this 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  189 

respect.  By  the  freemasonry  of  their  sex  the  women  of  America  seemed 
to  have  exalted  the  late  President  as  representative  of  all  that  was  tender 
and  most  chivalrous  in  the  relations  of  husband  to  wife.  And  then,  con- 
stantly before  their  eyes  was  the  picture  of  that  gentle-faced  sufferer  who 
in  the  bewildered  hopelessness  of  her  grief  was  moving  through  all  that 
funeral  gloom  as  one  in  a  dream,  scarce  grasping  the  utter  obliteration  of 
all  there  was  in  life  that  it  meant  to  her. 

Sympathy  for  Mrs.  McKinley  drew  thousands  to  the  vicinity  of  the 
Milburn  house  in  Buffalo  when  the  President  lay  dying  there.  Sympathy 
for  her  again  drew  thousands  to  the  railroad  as  the  train  that  bore  her 
passed  by. 

MRS.  McKiNLEY  STANDS  BY  CASKET. 

Mrs.  McKinley,  an  hour  after  leaving  Buffalo,  was  escorted  to  the 
funeral  car  by  Dr.  Rixey  and  Secretary  Cortelyou,  and  stood  for  a  time 
looking  down  on  the  closed  casket.  Then  she  retired  to  her  stateroom  in 
the  car  Olympia  and  remained  in  seclusion  with  only  her  attendants  and 
her  niece  by  her  during  all  the  rest  of  the  journey. 

All  the  way  the  train  was  preceded  about  fifteen  minutes  by  a  pilot 
engine  sent  ahead  to  test  the  bridges  and  switches  and  prevent  the  possi- 
bility of  an  accident  to  the  precious  burden  it  carried.  The  train  had  the 
right  of  way  over  everything.  Not  a  wheel  moved  on  the  railroad  system 
thirty  minutes  before  the  pilot  engine  was  due,  or  for  the  same  length  of 
time  after  the  train  had  passed. 

The  train  left  Buffalo  at  8 130  o'clock  in  the  morning  and  arrived  at 
Washington  at  8:38  o'clock  that  night.  In  those  twelve  hours  it  was 
estimated  that  over  half  a  million  people  saw  the  coffin  which  held  all  that 
was  mortal  of  President  McKinley. 

So  far  as  the  journey  from  Buffalo  to  Washington  was  concerned, 
it  was,  with  the  exception  of  one  trifling  incident,  performed  with  clock- 
like  precision. 

At  Baltimore  just  after  starting  the  coupling  of  one  of  the  cars 
became  loosened  and  caused  a  slight  delay.  Otherwise  there  was  not  a 
hitch  from  the  moment  of  starting  to  the  time  of  arrival  in  the  station  in 
Washington. 

SCHOOL  CHILDREN  SHOW  GRIEF. 

At  East  Aurora,  the  first  town  through  which  the  train  passed  after 
leaving  Buffalo,  the  inhabitants  had  been  augmented  by  thousands  from 
the  surrounding  country.  The  country  schools  along  the  way  let  out 
and  the  children  the  President  loved  so  well  in  life  were  there  to  see  his 


IQO  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

body  pass.    The  train  slowed  down  at  every  station  to  allow  the  people 
lined  up  on  either  side  to  get  a  better  view  of  the  flag-covered  casket. 

The  population  of  the  little  towns  along  the  way  like  Holland,  Ar- 
cade, Machiau  Junction,  Franklinville,  and  Hinsdale  had  tripled  and  quad- 
rupled. The  towns  seemed  suddenly  grown  into  cities. 

As  the  train  slowed  up  the  mourners  behind  the  curtained  windows 
of  the  train  could  hear  the  tolling  bells.  Olean  was  reached  at  10:29 
o'clock.  There  were  3,000  persons  at  the  railway  station  as  the  train  came 
to  a  stop. 

Two  ENGINES  USED  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS. 

Two  engines  were  used  to  pull  the  heavy  train  up  the  mountains. 
After  leaving  Olean  the  train  descended  into  the  valley  of  the  Susque- 
hanna.  At  Emporium  Junction  one  of  the  engines  was  taken  off.  The 
route  continued  down  the  beautiful  valley  of  the  Susquehanna. 

At  the  town  of  Driftwood,  which  was  reached  at  12:30  o'clock,  the 
entire  population  of  the  town  was  massed  behind  a  little  band  of  Grand 
Army  veterans,  who  had  planted  a  furled  crape-trimmed  flag  in  front  of 
them. 

Mrs.  McKinley  was  prevailed  upon  to  lie  down  soon  after  the  start 
from  Buffalo  was  made.  There  were  no  flowers  in  the  apartment  set 
apart  for  her  use,  and  nothing  to  recall  to  her  mind  the  mournful  mission 
on  which  the  train  was  speeding. 

PRESIDENT  ROOSEVELT  AT  WORK. 

President  Roosevelt  was  quartered  in  a  drawing-room  in  the  car 
Hungary  with  Private  Secretary  Loeb.  He  busied  himself  with  letters 
and  telegrams  and  with  the  innumerable  questions  which  required  imme- 
diate answer. 

The  members  of  the  Cabinet  individually  cared  for  the  more  pressing 
business  requiring  their  attention.  Secretary  Root  was  occupied  for  an 
hour  dispatching  orders  in  connection  with  the  assembling  of  troops  at 
Washington  and  other  points  for  the  ceremonies  soon  to  take  place.  The 
Cabinet  officers  joined  President  Roosevelt  from  time  to  time,  but  there 
was  nothing  in  the  nature  of  a  concerted  meeting. 

Major  General  Brooke,  in  fatigue  uniform,  with  a  band  of  crape 
about  his  left  sleeve,  conferred  occasionally  with  the  Secretary  of  War, 
and  with  him  determined  upon  the  military  requirements  of  the  occasion. 

At  Renovo  ropes  had  been  stretched  to  keep  back  the  crowds  which 
surged  through  the  neighboring  streets.  A  big  flag  with  President  Mc- 
Kinley's  picture  framed  in  crape  was  strung  from  corner  to  corner  of  the 
station,  and  in  front  of  it  were  hundreds  of  school  children,  their  hats 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  191 

in  their  hands  und  their  faces  grave.  This  was  the  terminus  of  one  of 
the  railroad  divisions,  and  the  train  hands  were  all  lined  up  with  bared 
heads. 

After  leaving  Renovo  the  train  passed  through  a  more  thickly  popu- 
lated country  and  the  crowds  grew  denser.  Flags  at  half  mast  were  on 
every  schoolhouse  and  the  bells  of  the  churches  tolled  dolefully  as  the 
funeral  train  sped  by. 

President  Roosevelt  had  lunch  in  the  dining  car  of  the  train  with 
Secretary  Root  at  1 130  p.  m.  The  members  of  the  Cabinet  and  other  dis- 
tinguished persons  aboard  the  train  had  preceded  him  into  the  diner.  Mrs. 
McKinley  and  her  immediate  party  remained  in  the  car  Olympia,  which 
was  provided  with  its  own  special  dining  car  service. 

At  Williamsport,  which  was  reached  at  2:30  o'clock,  there  was  a 
remarkable  demonstration,  the  feature  of  which  was  the  presentation  of 
an  immense  floral  offering  by  5,000  school  children  of  the  city.  It  was 
received  by  Colonel  T.  C.  Bingham,  the  President's  aid.  He  stood  on  the 
platform  of  the  observation  car  in  which  the  catafalque  lay  exposed  to 
view,  and  the  scene  was  profoundly  impressive. 

FRAGRANT  BLOSSOMS  ON  THE  RAILS. 

At  Lock  Haven  the  young  women  of  the  city  lined  up  along  the 
track  and  strewed  the  path  of  the  dead  President  with  flowers.  Some  had 
baskets  brimming  full  of  color  and  others  held  the  fragrant  blossoms  in 
their  arms.  They  poured  their  floral  offering  beneath  the  wheels. 

Each  small  town  had  conceived  some  distinct  way  of  its  own  to  show 
its  respect  for  the  dead.  Others  sought  to  obtain  souvenirs  of  the  sad 
occasion  in  unique  ways.  At  one  point  beyond  Lock  Haven  hundreds  of 
boys  placed  silver  coins  on  the  track  and  when  the  train  rushed  by  hurried 
to  secure  the  flattened  bits  of  silver  for  preservation  as  mementoes. 

The  passage  through  Sunbury,  which  is  midway  between  Williams- 
port  and  Harrisburg,  was  a  sight  long  to  be  remembered.  Third  Street, 
through  which  the  railroad  runs,  was  covered  with  flags  and  bunting,  all 
heavily  draped  with  crepe.  All  business  was  suspended  and  the  entire 
population  gathered  on  either  side  of  the  street.  No  demonstration  was 
made,  dead  silence  prevailing.  As  the  train  passed  slowly  through  the 
throng  all  hats  were  lifted  and  from  wet  eyes  and  bowed  heads  the  funeral 
train  was  watched  until  its  disappearance  in  the  distance. 

Companies  E  and  K,  Twelfth  Regiment,  headed  by  Colonel  C.  M. 
Clement  and  staff,  served  as  an  escort  for  the  train  through  the  town. 


192  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

THE  FARMERS  LEAVE  THEIR  WORK. 

After  leaving  Williamsport  the  train  ran  through  stretches  of  farming 
country,  dotted  here  and  there  with  small  manufacturing  towns.  At 
Milton  all  work  was  suspended,  and  the  town  turned  out  at  the  station  and 
lined  the  railroad  track.  Workmen  lined  up  in  their  overalls,  with 
serious  faces  and  hats  in  hand.  All  ages  and  conditions  of  the  people 
joined  in  the  tribute — the  children,  with  tiny  flags  topped  with  knots  of 
black,  cripples  on  crutches,  and  babes  held  above  the  crowd  for  a  sight 
they  might  never  see  again. 

In  the  fifty  miles  from  Sunbury  to  Harrisburg  the  loute  skirted  the 
Susquehanna,  and  the  vistas  of  green-clad  slope  and  peak  gave  way  to 
broad  sweeps  of  rich  farming  country.  The  rivermen  were  aware  of  the 
coming  of  the  train.  A  ponderous  dredge  halted  in  its  operations  and  the 
men  lined  the  deck  of  the  unwieldy  craft.  At  a  little  town  across  the  river 
the  populace  had  emptied  upon  the  wharves  and  could  be  seen  straining 
for  a  view  of  the  speeding  train. 

Farther  on  a  farmhouse  had  its  porch  looped  with  black,  and  under- 
neath were  gathered  the  old  and  young  of  the  household  with  sorrowing 
faces. 

At  one  cross-road  hundreds  of  vehicles  were  drawn  up,  with  country 
people  standing  in  them,  and  evidently  some  nearby  town  had  thus  sought 
a  point  of  vantage  near  the  track. 

FACTORY  HANDS  SHOW  SORROW. 

Approaching  Harrisburg  factory  hands  again  lined  the  track.  The 
rooftops  of  buildings  were  alive  with  people.  Flags  were  at  half  mast  and 
emblems  of  mourning  were  at  every  hand.  Hundreds  of  men  and  women 
crowded  the  tops  of  freight  cars.  Within  the  station  the  people  were 
banked  in  thousands,  surging  through  all  the  approaching  streets  as  far 
as  the  eye  could  reach.  From  a  viaduct  spanning  the  track  countless 
faces  peered  down  into  the  car  windows.  The  tolling  of  the  church  bells 
could  be  heard,  and  as  the  train  entered  the  station  the  notes  of  a  bugle 
sounded  taps. 

Despite  the  vigilance  of  the  guard,  women  pushed  through  the  train 
and  pleaded  at  the  windows  for  any  trifle  the  cars  might  yield  as  a  memen- 
to of  the  trip.  Just  as  the  train  stopped  a  great  choir,  ranged  tier  on 
tier  on  the  station  steps,  began  "Nearer,  My  God,  to  Thee,"  and  then  as 
the  train  pulled  out  the  strains  turned  to  "My  Country,  'Tis  of  Thee." 

Printed  slips  were  handed  to  the  car  windows,  giving  the  lines  of  the 
two  hymns,  bordered  in  black. 


The  FunereJ  of  President  McKinley 


Carrying  the  Body  into  the  Capitol  SM  Washington 


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WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  197 

HYMNS  ARE  SUNG  AT  HARRISBURG. 

During  the  wait  at  the  union  station  three  hundred  members  of  the 
Harrisburg  Choral  Society  sang  "Nearer,  My  God,  to  Thee"  and  "Amer- 
ica." Companies  D  and  I,  Eighth  Regiment,  National  Guard  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  the  Governor's  Troop  were  drawn  up  along  the  track  and  stood 
at  present  arms  as  the  train  passed  through. 

The  crush  at  the  station  was  so  great  that  the  militia  was  called  by 
the  railroad  authorities  to  drive  the  crowd  back.  It  is  estimated  that 
there  were  30,000  persons  crowded  in  and  about  the  station  to  see  the 
train. 

Governor  and  Mrs.  Stone  were  in  the  crowd,  but  they  were  unable 
to  get  near  the  train.  The  local  Grand  Army  posts  also  turned  out  to  do 
honor  to  the  memory  of  the  dead  President.  Business  throughout  the 
city  was  suspended  from  4 130  until  5  o'clock,  and  the  courthouse  bell  and 
numerous  other  bells  tolled  during  the  period. 

The  train  remained  five  minutes  at  Harrisburg,  leaving  at  4 150  p.  m. 

THOUSANDS  ALONG  THE  RIVER  BANKS. 

A  remarkable  spectacle  was  presented  as  the  train  moved  across  the 
long  bridge  spanning  the  Susquehanna  from  Harrisburg.  On  either  side 
of  the  stream,  up  and  down  for  miles  the  banks  teemed  with  countless 
people.  From  the  brink  of  the  stream  they  were  in  solid  masses  to  the 
trees  far  in  the  background.  On  the  bridge  itself  urchins  had  clambered 
into  the  tangle  of  steel  at  the  sides  and  roof. 

On  the  surface  of  the  river,  in  a  flotilla  of  rowboats  and  yachts,  hun- 
dreds more  looked  up  at  the  train  of  death.  On  the  far  side  of  the  bridge 
another  dense  crowd  lined  the  tracks  and,  with  bared  heads,  peered  into 
the  catafalque  car. 

Again,  at  York,  the  train  moved  for  half  a  mile  between  avenues  of 
solid  humanity,  and  windows  and  housetops  alive  with  people.  By  this 
time  the  sun  was  getting  low,  and  in  the  throngs  were  hundreds  of  work- 
men with  their  dinner  pails.  Everywhere  the  same  scenes  of  sorrow  and 
reverence  that  had  gone  before  were  re-enacted. 

NIGHT  FALLS  ON  THE  WAY  TO  BALTIMORE. 

Night  came  on  as  the  train  sped  from  York  to  Baltimore  without  a 
stop,  and  in  the  darkness  only  the  flickering  lights  along  the  way  and  the 
tolling  of  bells  at  the  stations  bespoke  that  the  manifestations  of  sorrow 
were  still  going  on. 


198  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

As  the  train  drew  into  Baltimore  black  masses  of  people  could  be  seen 
ranged  upon  the  huge  viaducts  which  span  the  line  of  the  road,  and  at 
every  street  crossing  a  living  tide  surged  up  to  the  train. 

Nearing  the  station,  the  locomotive  plowed  its  way  among  flowers, 
for  great  masses  of  blossoms  had  been  strewn  along  the  pathway  of  the 
train.  Inside  the  station  the  iron  railing  held  back  a  surging  multitude, 
while  within  the  rail  the  entire  force  of  the  city  postofnce  was  drawn  up 
on  one  side  of  the  tracks,  with  banners  wound  with  crape,  and  the  force 
of  the  custom  house  on  the  other  side. 

In  front  of  the  crowd  stood  Mayor  Hayes,  with  his  sister,  each 
bearing  great  clusters  of  roses  and  palms  as  a  tribute  of  the  city  to  be 
placed  on  the  bier  of  the  dead  President.  As  the  flowers  were  passed 
within  the  train  the  notes  of  "Nearer,  My  God,  to  Thee,"  arose.  A  mo- 
ment later  the  train  was  off  for  the  final  destination. 

At  Baltimore  the  entire  makeup  of  the  train  was  reversed,  the  cata- 
falque car  being  placed  at  the  front,  while  that  of  Mrs.  McKinley  and  the 
relatives,  President  Roosevelt,  the  Cabinet  and  public  officials  followed 
in  the  order  named. 

It  was  shortly  before  8 130  o'clock  that  the  distant  lights  of  the  Na- 
tional Capital  came  into  view.  Then  the  preparations  for  disembarking 
the  casket  began.  The  stalwart  soldiers  and  sailors  who  were  to  bear  it 
from  the  car  were  summoned  to  their  posts.  As  the  train  ran  through 
the  suburbs  the  knots  of  people  along  the  way  gradually  swelled  to  hun- 
dreds and  then  to  thousands.  At  8:38  o'clock  the  train  swept  into  the 
station,  around  which  thousands  were  waiting  to  receive  their  dead. 

COURTESY  TO  GRAND  ARMY  VETERANS. 

The  presence  of  five  veterans  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic  on 
the  funeral  train  developed  an  interesting  incident,  showing  the  considerate 
attitude  of  President  Roosevelt  toward  the  old  soldiers.  The  thirty-fifth 
national  encampment,  G.  A.  R.,  at  Cleveland,  Ohio,  adjourned  early  at 
the  Friday  morning  session,  on  September  13,  after  receipt  of  the  dispatch 
reporting  the  condition  of  the  President  at  Buffalo,  placing  all  unfinished 
business  in  the  hands  of  the  Council  of  Administration,  consisting  of  one 
comrade  from  each  of  the  forty-five  departments,  with  full  power  to  act. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  council,  which  remained  in  session  until  after 
midnight  on  Friday,  a  committee,  to  be  appointed  by  Commander-in-Chief 
Ell  Torrance,  was  directed,  in  the  event  of  the  President's  death,  to  attend 
the  funeral  of  their  dead  comrade  at  Canton,  Ohio. 

At  a  meeting  held  at  Buffalo  on  the  Sunday  after  the  death  of  the 
President,  presided  over  by  Department  Commander  Orr,  it  was  agreed 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  199 

to  offer  the  services  of  a  committee  of  five  to  act  as  a  part  of  the  escort 
to  the  body  on  the  funeral  train  to  Washington. 

RECEIVES  THE  GRAND  ARMY  MEN. 

The  committee  called  on  President  Roosevelt  Sunday  evening  to 
request  an  acceptance  so  that  the  representatives  of  the  G.  A.  R.  might 
be  assigned  to  this  duty.  The  President's  greeting  to  the  Grand  Army 
committee  was  most  gracious.  He  said : 

"I  am  pleased,  much  pleased,  to  receive  you,  and  while,  for  obvious 
reasons,  I  cannot  make  an  assignment  such  as  you  propose,  I  will  write 
a  note  to  Secretary  Cortelyou  with  the  hope  that  he  will  be  able  to  do  so. 
I  know  it  is  what  the  dead  President  would  have  desired,  and  it  is  what 
I  desire." 

The  note  written  by  the  President  was  handed  to  Secretary  Cortelyou, 
who  said:  "In  making  arrangements  for  the  funeral  I  thought  of  the 
Grand  Army  officers.  In  the  multitude  of  my  duties  I  necessarily  had  to 
refer  many  matters,  and  that  of  the  G.  A.  R.  escort  was  sent  to  Colonel 
Bingham.  Please  see  and  tell  him  I  sent  you  to  him." 

Colonel  Bingham  at  once  made  the  necessary  arrangements  for  the 
G.  A.  R.  to  follow  the  hearse  to  the  depot,  and  an  assignment  of  a  com- 
mittee of  five  to  accompany  the  remains. 

The  body  of  William  McKinley  rested  the  night  of  September  i6th 
for  the  last  time  in  that  mansion  where  for  more  than  four  years  he  lived 
as  quietly  as  the  circumstances  of  his  office  would  permit. 

The  coffin  lay  in  the  spacious  East  Room,  the  largest  chamber  of  the 
White  House,  where  he  had  time  and  again  received  the  friendly  homage 
of  his  fellow-citizens. 

It  is  guarded  by  white-haired  comrades  of  the  great  civil  conflict  of 
forty  years  ago,  and  by  beardless  soldiers  of  the  present  day,  some  of 
whom  served  in  that  later  battle  for  principle  which  made  the  United 
States  a  world  power. 

COMES  HOME  IN  SILENCE. 

On  that  warm  September  evening  the  people  of  Washington  assem- 
bled by  thousands  to  show  their  sympathy  and  their  respect  for  this  man 
among  men,  who  to  them  exemplified  the  virtues  of  the  devoted  husband, 
the  upright  citizen,  the  stalwart  leader,  and  the  servant  of  his  countrymen. 

It  was  a  simple  procession  that  they  saw,  but  all  the  more  impressive 
on  that  account. 

There  was  no  blare  of  trumpets,  no  great  array  of  glittering  soldiery. 
Silently,  save  for  the  clang  and  clatter  of  horses'  hoofs  on  the  asphalted 


200  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

pavements,  the  escort  that  accompanied  the  body  of  William  McKinley 
to  the  official  residence  of  American  Presidents  moved  along  the  great, 
broad  avenue  down  which  he  had  gone  in  his  living  self  but  six  months 
before  through  a  double  line  of  cheering,  enthusiastic  people  to  take  for 
a  second  time  a  solemn  oath  to  defend  the  interests  of  his  country  and 
his  fellow-citizens. 

THE  PEOPLE  MUTE  WITH  GRIEF. 

Tonight  the  people  were  mute.  With  bared  heads  they  watched  the 
funeral  car  go  by,  and  then  dispersed  with  heavy  hearts  and  filled  with 
the  wonder  and  the  anguish  of  it  all. 

The  overcast  skies  at  the  close  of  a  bright,  sunshiny  day  were  in 
keeping  with  the  occasion  that  brought  the  inhabitants  of  the  National 
Capital  to  that  wide  thoroughfare  along  which  the  body  of  the  late  Presi- 
dent was  to  pass  to  the  home  that  had  been  his  by  virtue  of  his  office. 

The  route  of  the  funeral  procession  was  short — a  dozen  blocks — 
between  the  railroad  station  and  White  House.  For  that  distance  the 
broad  sidewalks  were  thronged  with  men,  women  and  children,  and  every 
window  and  balcony  commanding  a  view  of  the  cortege  was  filled  with 
reverent  and  interested  spectators. 

Those  in  charge  of  the  procession  avoided  all  possible  display,  and 
there  was  no  attempt  to  play  upon  the  feelings  of  the  people,  who  were 
already  wrought  up  to  a  dangerous  point. 

When  the  official  train  drew  into  the  Pennsylvania  depot  the  body 
was  carried  from  there  to  the  late  President's  old  home  at  the  White 
House,  escorted  by  a  troop  or  two  of  cavalry  and  by  the  members  of  the 
Cabinet  and  the  distinguished  officials  who  had  acted  as  the  escort  of 
honor  from  Buffalo  to  Washington. 

No  President  had  ever  been  more  popular  with  the  people  of  Wash- 
ington than  Mr.  McKinley.  Neither  Grant  nor  Lincoln  was  an  exception 
to  this,  because  both  ruled  during  the  trying  times  of  and  just  after  the 
War,  and  there  was  much  partisan  feeling  aroused.  Mr.  McKinley, 
however,  had  the  abiding  love  of  all  the  citizens  of  Washington,  and  they 
were  prepared  to  go  into  hysterics  over  his  arrival. 

THE  MARCH  Is  DEEPLY  TOUCHING. 

It  was  well,  therefore,  that  there  were  no  illuminations,  no  bands, 
nor  anything  to  inspire  the  multitude,  for  a  night  march  of  this  character 
might  have  produced  an  unfortunate  effect. 

As  it  was,  the  official  procession  from  the  station  to  the  White  House 
was  exceedingly  quiet,  and,  in  spite  of  its  extreme  simplicity,  deeply  touch- 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  201 

ing.  The  most  notable  feature  of  it  was  the  entire  absence  of  noise. 
There  was  not  a  band  nor  a  drum  in  the  whole  procession,  and  save  for 
the  bugle  note  of  the  cavalry  martial  music  was  abandoned  entirely.  All 
that  element  of  display  will  be  concentrated  on  the  daylight  performance 
tomorrow. 

The  body  of  the  late  President  was  brought  into  the  depot  where 
President  Garfield  was  shot,  and  thus  was  completed  the  parallel  between 
the  two  Ohio  Presidents,  both  of  whom  had  been  unexpected  martyrs  to 
their  positions. 

The  procession  which  conveyed  the  casket  was  reverently  received 
by  the  living  lanes  of  people  and  was  only  disturbed  here  and  there  by 
the  flashlight  snap  of  over-enterprising  photographers. 

There  was  no  display  whatever  at  the  White  House.  Mrs.  McKin- 
ley's  feelings  were  consulted  in  preference  to  anything  else.  The  gates 
to  the  grounds  adjoining  the  Executive  Mansion  were  closed  early  in  the 
afternoon  and  were  only  opened  to  admit  Mrs.  McKinley  and  the  members 
of  her  official  and  personal  family. 

The  casket  was  placed  in  the  great  East  Room,  which  has  been  the 
scene  of  so  many  notable  receptions  held  by  President  McKinley  and 
others  of  his  predecessors. 

CASKET  PLACED  ON  AN  HISTORIC  SPOT. 

It  was  in  this  room  that  the  body  of  Lincoln  was  first  placed,  and  the 
casket  containing  the  late  Secretary  Gresham  was  also  there  over  night 
as  the  result  of  a  special  mark  of  respect  from  President  Cleveland. 
President  Garfield's  casket  was  not  placed  in  the  East  Room.  As  he  died 
at  the  seashore  it  was  brought  direct  to  the  Capitol,  and  left  there  for 
his  home  in  Mentor. 

The  floral  display  in  the  East  Room  was,  of  course,  extremely  beauti- 
ful, but  it  was  not  intended  for  the  sight  of  the  general  public,  consisting 
merely  of  the  emblems  sent  by  personal  friends,  each  of  them  containing 
a  card  with  the  name  of  the  sender. 

Mrs.  McKinley  appeared  to  stand  the  terrible  strain  of  the  day's 
journey  from  Buffalo  to  Washington  extremely  well,  although  once  or 
twice  she  was  undoubtedly  on  the  verge  of  collapse,  and  had  to  be  given 
stimulants  to  keep  her  up.  When  she  arrived  at  the  White  House  she  was 
at  once  taken  to  her  familiar  rooms  and  was  surrounded  by  the  tender  and 
loving  care  of  her  immediate  family. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

WASHINGTON,  THE  CAPITAL  OF  THE  NATION,  PAYS  ITS  HOMAGE  TO  THE 
MEMORY  OF  THE  DEPARTED  PRESIDENT — SOLEMN  SCENES  IN  THE 
ROTUNDA  OF  THE  CAPITOL — ESCORTING  THE  BODY  FROM  THE  WHITE 
HOUSE — SOMBER  MILITARY  PAGEANT — A  NOTABLE  ASSEMBLAGE  OF 
PROMINENT  PERSONAGES. 


The  Capital  City  of  the  great  Republic  paid  its  last  honors  to  Presi- 
dent McKinley  September  I7th.  The  night  previous  the  body  of  the 
dead  Chief  Magistrate  lay  in  the  beautiful  East  Room  of  the  White 
House,  a  vigil  being  maintained  by  soldiers  and  sailors. 

Great  crowds  of  people  remained  the  entire  night  about  the  fence 
that  enclosed  the  White  House  grounds ;  they  pressed  their  faces  against 
the  iron  palings,  but  they  could  see  nothing. 

Dawn  had  just  begun  to  break  when  the  silent  day  crowd  began  as- 
sembling. The  sky  was  cloudy.  For  hours  the  throng  grew,  heedless 
of  the  threatening  rain. 

At  8  o'clock  in  the  morning  the  broad  sidewalk  on  Pennsylvania 
Avenue  was  filled  with  people,  who  pressed  far  back  beneath  the  trees 
of  Lafayette  Park.  Some  of  them  had  prepared  themselves  against  the 
weather,  but  the  vast  throng  had  hurried  from  their  homes,  and  when 
about  8  o'clock  the  rain  began  to  come  down  in  torrents  they  stood  there 
quiet  and  subdued,  braving  the  wet. 

About  the  time  the  rain  began  the  military  escort  made  its  appear- 
ance and  the  vicinity  of  the  Executive  Mansion  was  filled  with  bugle  calls 
and  sharp  commands.  Artillery  came  rumbling  up.  The  cavalry  came 
at  a  quick  trot  to  Lafayette  Place,  where  it  took  its  position  for  wheeling 
into  the  funeral  cortege. 

To  the  west  of  the  White  House  were  gathered  the  infantry  and 
artillery  troops,  while  at  the  State,  War  and  Navy  Building  were  the  car- 
riages to  carry  the  distinguished  guests  and  the  members  of  the  diplo- 
matic corps  to  the  capitol,  where  the  state  funeral  was  to  be  held. 

START  FROM  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

It  had  been  arranged  that  the  cortege  should  start  from  the  White 
House  to  the  Capitol  promptly  at  9  o'clock.  It  was  only  a  few  minutes 

202 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  203 

after  the  appointed  hour  that  the  doors  of  the  White  House  were  opened 
wide  and  these  who  had  been  admitted  earlier  began  to  take  their  places 
in  the  carriages.  The  hearse,  drawn  by  six  caparisoned  horses,  stood  at 
the  door.  The  same  eight  soldiers,  two  infantrymen,  two  marines,  and 
four  bluejackets  lifted  the  casket  from  its  support  under  the  great  glass 
chandelier  which  had  shed  its  light  down  on  the  body  of  President  Lin- 
coln thirty-six  years  before,  and,  raising  it  to  their  shoulders,  carried  it 
between  the  rows  of  bare-headed  notables  and  placed  it  in  the  hearse. 
There  was  a  loud  blast  from  the  bugler,  the  squadron  of  mounted  police 
moved  forward,  the  artillery  band  sounded  the  first  notes  of  a  funeral 
march  and  the  last  sad  march  to  the  Capitol  was  begun. 

After  the  police  came  General  John  R.  Brooke  in  the  full-dress  uni- 
form of  a  major  general  of  the  United  States  army  and  the  members  of 
his  staff.  The  cortege  moved  down  Pennsylvania  Avenue  from  the 
Executive  Mansion  to  Fifteenth  Street,  past  the  Treasury  Building,  again 
to  Pennsylvania  Avenue  and  then  straight  down  the  broad  thoroughfare 
up  which  William  McKinley  had  twice  ridden  to  the  White  House  after 
taking  the  oath  as  President  of  the  United  States. 

The  military  led  the  way.  There  was  first  a  squadron  of  cavalry. 
The  horses  were  held  back  with  tight  reins  to  the  slow  time  of  the  funeral 
march.  Close  behind  the  cavalry  came  a  battery  of  artillery.  Each  of 
the  six  guns  and  caissons  was  drawn  by  six  horses. 

As  the  cortege  swung  into  Pennsylvania  Avenue  at  the  south  end  of 
the  Treasury  Building  the  rain  settled  down  in  a  heavy  drizzle,  which 
made  the  craped  standards  of  the  troops  cling  to  the  flag  staffs.  There 
were  two  battalions  of  coast  artillery.  They  were  followed  by  the  hos- 
pital corps  and  a  battalion  of  United  States  seamen.  The  National  Guard 
of  the  District  of  Columbia  ended  the  first  section  of  the  procession. 

The  military  received  plaudits  from  the  assembled  multitude.  War 
heroes,  whose  appearance  generally  evokes  applause,  passed  by  almost 
unnoticed.  Interest  centered  in  the  second  section  of  the  parade,  where 
was  the  hearse  in  which  was  the  coffin  containing  the  body  of  the  Presi- 
dent. It  was  not  demonstrative  grief  that  filled  and  held  that  long  line  of 
people. 

Four  days  of  sorrow  had  softened  their  affliction.  As  the  hearse, 
immediately  behind  the  members  of  the  Legion  of  Honor  and  the  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic,  came  in  view  hats  were  lifted  and  the  throng 
stood  bareheaded. 

SILENT  TRIBUTE  OF  GRIEF. 

It  was  the  last  mark  of  respect  that  the  great  majority  of  the  people 


204  WILLIAM    Me  KIN  LEY. 

could  show  to  the  man  they  loved  so  well.  Here  and  there  a  hysterical 
member  of  the  multitude  would  sob,  but  in  the  main  absolute  silence  was 
the  most  evident  manifestation  of  the  popular  grief. 

At  the  head  of  the  hearse  were  details  of  fifty  men  each  from  the 
Old  Veteran  Associations,  headed  by  General  Henry  V.  Boynton,  who 
was  an  old  personal  friend  of  the  President.  The  funeral  car  was  sur- 
rounded by  the  guard  of  honor.  It  was  made  up  of  all  the  army  and 
navy  officers  in  Washington. 

They  were  in  full-dress  uniforms  and  they  walked  in  a  double  file 
on  either  side  of  the  carriage  with  bowed  heads.  From  the  hilts  of  their 
swords  hung  the  black  sign  of  mourning  of  the  military  establishment  of 
the  government. 

COFFIN  DRAPED  WITH  FLAG. 

The  curtains  of  the  hearse  had  been  pulled  back  so  that  the  public 
could  see  the  rich  black  cloth  covering  of  the  coffin  draped  with  the 
American  flag.  Immediately  behind  the  coffin  came  the  carriages  con- 
taining the  members  of  the  family,  the  cabinet  and  other  high  officials. 
The  tops  were  closed  and  in  many  instances  the  curtains  drawn. 

Behind  these,  in  single  file,  came  the  vehicles  occupied  by  the  mem- 
bers of  the  diplomatic  corps.  These  were  in  full  court  dress,  although 
the  crowd  could  see  little  of  the  pageant.  Following  came  the  members 
of  the  Supreme  Court,  the  members  of  Congress  and  the  Governors  of 
the  various  States  who  had  come  to  Washington  accompanied  by  the 
members  of  their  respective  staffs. 

Following  were  the  members  of  the  various  commissions  and  the 
civic  organizations  that  had  been  invited  to  participate  in  the  funeral 
pageant. 

When  the  Capitol  was  reached  the  eight  soldiers  again  lifted  the  coffin 
from  the  hearse  and  carried  it  to  the  catafalque  which  had  been  prepared 
beneath  the  great  dome  of  the  Capitol. 

ALTERATION  IN  PLANS. 

It  had  been  intended  that  after  the  body  had  been  placed  beneath  the 
dome  of  the  Capitol  the  general  public  would  be  given  an  opportunity  for 
an  hour  or  so  to  take  a  last  look  at  the  face  of  President  McKinley  be- 
fore the  funeral  services.  The  altered  arrangements  made  it  necessary 
to  close  the  White  House  at  six  o'clock,  in  order  that  the  body  could 
be  taken  to  the  train  which  was  to  carry  it  to  Canton,  so  it  was  decided 
that  the  funeral  should  be  held  as  soon  as  the  distinguished  guests  who 
had  been  invited  to  attend  could  take  their  places  about  the  casket. 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  205 

i 

This  occasioned  a  great  crush  at  the  Capitol,  as  those  who  had 
watched  the  cortege  go  to  the  Capitol  hastened  to  the  east  front,  as  di- 
rected by  the  officials  in  charge  of  the  funeral.  They  were  taken  in  hand 
by  the  police  and  soon  two  long  lines  were  formed  ready  to  move  through 
the  Capitol  as  soon  as  the  services  were  over. 

CARRY  OUT  FLORAL  PIECES. 

After  the  cortege  had  passed  from  the  White  Houss,  a  stream  of  ex- 
press wagons  drove  up  to  the  front  entrance.  Servants  of  the  Executive 
Mansion  began  carrying  out  the  floral  pieces  that  had  been  sent  there. 

All  of  the  embassies  in  the  city  had  sent  pieces  in  the  name  of  the 
ruler  of  the  country  represented.  Besides,  there  were  hundreds  of 
wreaths,  bouquets  and  pieces  from  friends  and  organizations. 

These  were  placed  in  the  wagons  and  sent  to  the  depot,  where  the 
funeral  train  was  waiting.  The  flowers  filled  an  entire  car. 

The  street  department  of  the  District  of  Columbia  made  a  special 
effort  to  sweep  scrupulously  the  right  of  way  of  the  cortege.  When  the 
force  of  sweepers  showed  up  in  their  white  clothes  each  one  wore  a 
broad  stripe  of  crape  about  his  left  arm.  The  street  sweepers  showed 
this  honor  to  the  dead  president  without  instructions  from  their  superiors. 

CATHOLIC  CLERGY  IN  THE  LINE. 

The  Catholic  clergy  of  Washington  marched  in  the  funeral  proces- 
sion. This  was  said  to  be  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  Capital  that 
the  priests  marched  in  a  public  demonstration  in  a  body.  The  Arch- 
bishop of  the  diocese  issued  orders  that  the  priests  should  turn  out  and 
they  obeyed  to  a  man.  There  were  about  eighty  of  them  in  the  civic 
section  of  the  parade. 

MRS.  ROOSEVELT  IN  MOURNING. 

President  Roosevelt  was  at  the  White  House  nearly  half  an  hour 
before  the  funeral  procession  moved.  He  was  accompanied  by  his  wife 
and  Commander  and  Mrs.  Cowles,  the  latter  the  President's  sister.  The 
President  was  dressed  in  a  black  long  coat.  He  wore  a  low  turndown 
collar  and  a  narrow  black  string  tie.  Mrs.  Roosevelt  was  dressed  in 
deep  mourning. 

The  President  bowed  silently  to  those  who  greeted  him.  He  went 
immediately  to  the  East  Room,  where  he  remained  until  he  took  his  place 
in  the  procession.  His  carriage  was  in  the  last  section  of  the  procession. 
It  was  closed. 

As  it  came  immediately  after  the  carriage  occupied  by  ex-President 


206  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

Cleveland  and  was  guarded  by  a  number  of  soldiers  it  was  easily  marked 
by  the  crowd. 

SOMBER  DAY  FOR  THE  FUNERAL. 

The  state  funeral  day  of  President  McKinley  opened  as  somber  as 
the  occasion.  The  sky  was  overcast  with  dark  slow-moving  gray  clouds, 
occasional  showers  of  rain  fell,  giving  way  for  momentary  intervals  to 
gleams  of  dull  sunshine,  and  a  soft  wind  barely  stirred  into  relief  the 
signs  of  mourning  on  building  fronts  that  told  as  well  as  the  subdued  air 
of  the  public  that  it  was  a  day  of  sorrow. 

It  was  the  occasion  when  the  nation  was  to  pay  its  last  tribute  of 
respect  and  admiration  at  the  bier  of  the  dead  President.  All  the  country 
had  sent  here  its  representatives  to  testify  that  the  dead  held  his  place 
deep  in  the  nation's  heart.  Other  nations  had  ordered  their  diplomatic 
and  military  representatives  to  be  present  as  a  token  that  they  mourned 
with  America  in  its  loss. 

Ex-President  Cleveland,  who  took  part  in  the  ceremonies,  like  Presi- 
dent Roosevelt,  paid  his  tribute  first  in  private  at  the  White  House  and 
later  at  the  public  services  in  the  rotunda  of  the  Capitol. 

FOREIGN  NATIONS  REPRESENTED. 

The  King  of  Great  Britain  was  represented  in  the  person  of  Gerard 
Lowther,  charge  of  the  British  Embassy,  whom  King  Edward  had 
specially  commissioned  to  participate  in  the  services.  Captain  Louis 
Bailey  of  the  Royal  Navy  represented  the  Embassy.  Other  Embassies 
and  Legations  likewise  had  sent  on  their  representatives. 

STATES  SEND  CHIEF  EXECUTIVES. 

Many  of  the  States  had  sent  on  their  chief  executives  and  part  of 
their  staffs. 

All  branches  of  the  National  Government — legislative,  executive,  ju- 
dicial and  military — were  represented.  Senator  Frye,  President  Pro 
Tern,  of  the  Senate,  arrived  from  Maine  in  the  morning.  With  him  was 
Chief  Justice  Fuller  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court.  General  David 
B.  Henderson,  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives  attended  as 
the  representative  of  the  popular  legislative  branch,  as  well  as  the  long- 
time personal  friend  and  associate  of  the  dead  man. 

Many  others  were  present  also  of  the  legislative  and  judicial  depart- 
ments. 


WILLIAM  MCKINLEY.  207 

The  army  and  navy  had  their  highest  officers  within  reach  of  the 
city  in  attendance  and  all  officers  within  the  limits  of  the  National  Capital 
took  part  under  orders  directing  them  to  participate  in  the  services  of 
honor  to  their  late  commander-in-chief.  The  South  sent  General  Long- 
street  and  other  former  leaders  of  the  Confederacy. 

NLGHT  VIGIL  AT  WHITE  HOUSE. 

About  the  White  House  the  patrol  of  soldiers  and  sailors  guarding 
the  entrance  and  grounds  told  the  sad  story.  The  night  there  had  been  a 
quiet  one.  A  vigil  over  the  dead  had  been  maintained  throughout  the 
watches.  Details  of  cavalrymen,  artillerymen  and  infantrymen,  sailors 
and  marines  were  on  guard  around  the  grounds.  A  sentryman  paced 
back  and  forth  on  the  portico.  Inside  the  house  others  did  duty. 

In  the  East  Room,  somber  with  its  drawn  shades  and  dim-burning 
lights  and  its  heavy  black  casket  in  the  center  of  the  room,  the  guard  of 
honor  watched  over  the  dead. 

Members  of  the  Loyal  Legion  and  the  G.  A.  R.  performed  this  sad 
duty,  silently  giving  way  to  others  every  two  hours.  At  the  head  of  the 
casket  stood  an  artilleryman  and  a  sailor.  At  the  foot  were  a  cavalry- 
man and  a  marine.  All  were  at  parade  rest.  These  watchers  were  re- 
lieved every  half  hour. 

MRS.  MCKINLEY'S  CONDITION. 

Mrs.  McKinley  had  retired  by  10  o'clock  and  at  that  hour  all  the 
private  apartments  in  the  White  House  were  locked  for  the  night.  There 
were  no  untoward  development  in  Mrs.  McKinley's  condition,  and  the 
night  gave  way  to  day  without  incident  having  broken  its  sorrow. 

MANY  FLORAL  OFFERINGS. 

Adjutant  General  Corbin,  then  en  route  home  from  Manila;  Major 
General  Adna  R.  Chaffee,  commander  of  the  United  States  forces  in  the 
Philippines,  and  the  commissioners  of  Porto  Rico  had  floral  offerings  laid 
about  the  bier.  A  design  of  over  six  feet  in  diameter,  composed  of  galax 
leaves  and  American  beauty  roses,  about  which  was  entwined  the  Amer- 
ican flag,  came  from  the  mayor  and  conucil  of  Richmond,  Vt. 

Other  tributes  came  from  Mrs.  James  A.  Garfield,  widow  of  another 
martyred  President;  Mrs.  Garret  A.  Hobart,  widow  of  President  Mc- 
Kinley's first  Vice-President ;  Secretaries  Hay  and  Hitchcock,  Lieutenant 
General  and  Mrs.  Miles,  Ambassador  Porter  at  Paris,  the  Argentine, 
Guatemalan,  Costa  Rican  and  other  legations  and  the  municipality  of 
Havana. 


208  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

While  the  men  of  note  were  arriving  at  the  White  House  the  funeral 
escort  under  command  of  Major  General  John  R.  Brooke,  U.  S.  A., 
was  forming  immediately  in  front  of  the  White  House.  Besides  regular 
soldiers,  sailors  and  marines,  the  escort  was  made  up  of  a  detachment  of 
the  National  Guard,  members  of  the  G.  A.  R.,  Loyal  Legion  and  kindred 
bodies  and  civic  organizations  and  representatives  of  all  branches  of  the 
National  Government  and  the  Governors  of  States  and  their  staffs. 

The  public  had  been  astir  early  and  the  streets  were  crowded  with 
people.  Wire  cables  strung  along  the  entire  route  of  march  from  the 
White  House  to  the  Capitol  kept  it  clear  for  the  funeral  procession. 

At  precisely  9  o'clock  a  silent  command  was  given  and  the  body- 
bearers  silently  and  reverently  raised  the  casket  containing  all  that  was 
mortal  of  the  illustrious  dead.  They  walked  with  slow  steps,  and  as  they 
appeared  at  the  main  door  of  the  White  House  the  Marine  Band  stationed 
on  the  avenue  opposite  the  mansion  struck  up  the  hymn  the  dead  Presi- 
dent loved  so  well,  "Nearer,  My  God,  to  Thee." 

There  was  perfect  silence  throughout  the  big  mansion,  and  as  the 
last  strain  of  music  died  away  the  throng  in  the  building  lifted  their 
heads,  but  their  eyes  were  wet. 

MRS.  MCKINLEY  REMAINS  IN  HER  ROOM. 

As  the  hearse  moved  away  the  mourners  from  the  White  House  en- 
tered carriages  and  followed  the  body  on  its  march  to  the  capitol,  where 
the  funeral  services  were  to  be  held.  It  was  thought  early  in  the  morning 
that  Mrs.  McKinley  might  feel  strong  enough  to  attend  the  services 
there,  but  it  was  finally  decided  that  it  would  be  imprudent  to  tax  her 
vitality  more  than  was  absolutely  necessary,  and  so  she  concluded  to  re- 
main in  her  room  under  the  immediate  care  of  Dr.  Rixey,  Mrs.  Barber, 
her  sister,  and  her  niece,  Miss  Barber. 

Slowly  down  the  White  House  driveway  through  a  fine  drizzling 
rain  the  solemn  cortege  wound  its  way  to  the  gate  leading  to  the  avenue 
and  halted.  Then  with  a  grand,  solemn  swing  the  artillery  band  began 
the  Dead  March  from  "Saul,"  a  blast  from  a  bugle  sounded  "march," 
and  the  head  of  the  procession  was  moving  on  its  way  to  the  Capitol. 
The  casket,  in  a  black  carved  hearse,  and  drawn  by  six  coal-black  horses, 
caparisoned  in  black  net  with  trailing  tassels  and  a  stalwart  groom  at 
the  head  of  each,  moved  down  through  the  gateway  and  took  its  place 
in  the  line. 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  209 

ORDER  OF  THE  FUNERAL  LINE. 
The  parade  moved  in  'the  following  order : 

FIRST  SECTION. 

Funeral  escort  under  command  of  Major-General  John  R.  Brooke,  U.  S.  A. 

Artillery  Band. 

Squadron  of  Cavalry. 

Battery  of  Field  Artillery. 

Company  A.   U.   Engineers. 

Two  Battalions  Coast  Artillery. 

Hospital  Corps. 

Marine  Band. 

Battalion  of  Marines. 

Battalion  of  U.  S.  Seamen. 

National  Guard,  District  of  Columbia. 

SECOND  SECTION. 

Civic  procession. 
Under  command  of  Chief  Marshal  General  Henry  V.  Boynton. 

Clergymen  in  attendance. 

Physicians  who  attended  the  late  President. 

Military  Order  of  the  Loyal  Legion  of  the  United  States. 

Grand  Army  of  the  Republic. 
Guard  of  honor,  pallbearers  and  hearse. 

Officers  of  the  army,  navy  and  marine  corps  in  the  city  who  are  not  on  duty  with 
the  troops  forming  the  escort  will  form  in  full  dress,  right  in  front,  on  either 
side  of  the  hearse,  the  army  on  the  right  and  the  navy  and  marine  corps 
on  the  left  and  compose  the  guard  of  honor. 

Family  of  the  late  President. 

Relatives  of  the  late  President 

Ex-President  of  the  United  States. 

THIRD  SECTION. 

The  President. 

The  Cabinet  Ministers. 

The  Diplomatic  Corps. 

The  Chief  Justices  and  the  Associate  Justices  of  the  Supreme    Court    of    the 

United  States. 

The  Senators  of  the  United  States. 

Members  of  the  United  States  House  of  Representatives. 
Governors   of   States   and   Territories'  and    Commissioners   of   the    District  of 

Columbia. 

The  Judges  of  the  Court  of  Claims,  the  Judiciary  of  the  District  of  Columbia  and 
Judges  of  the  United  States  Courts,  the  Assistant  Secretaries  of  State,  the 
Treasury,  War,  the  Navy,  the  Interior  and  Agriculture,  the  Assistant  Post- 
masters-General. 
The  Solicitor-General  and  the  Assistant  Attorney- Generals. 


210  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

The  Chilean  Claims,  Civil,  Industrial,  Interstate  Commerce,  Isthmian  Canal, 
Joint  High,  Mexican  Water  Boundary,  Fish  and  Fisheries,  Special  Tariff  and 
Philippine  Commissions  and  other  Departments  and  Commissions  of  the 
Government  in  the  order  of  their  precedence. 

Official  Representatives  of  the  Insular  Government. 
Organized  Societies. 
Citizens. 

MAJOR  GENERAL  BROOKE  LEADS  THE  LINE. 

Major  General  John  R.  Brooke  was  at  the  head  of  the  line,  mounted 
on  a  splendid  charger.  Behind  him  came  his  aides,  the  red-coated  artil- 
lery band,  a  squadron  of  cavalry  with  red  and  white  guidons,  in  a  damp 
air,  a  battery  of  field  artillery  with  the  men  sitting  straight  and  stiff  as 
statues,  a  company  of  engineers,  two  battalions  of  coast  artillery  and  a 
detachment  of  the  hospital  corps. 

Then  came  the  naval  contingent  of  the  first  section,  headed  by  the 
Marine  Band,  who  were  followed  by  a  battalion  of  marines  and  one 
of  sailors  from  the  North  Atlantic  squadron,  very  picturesque  and  strong. 

As  the  National  Guard  of  the  District  of  Columbia  brought  up  the 
rear  of  the  first  section  of  the  parade  the  civic  section  of  the  procession 
marched  into  line.  It  was  under  command  of  General  Henry  V.  Boynton 
as  chief  marshal  and  comprised  detachments  from  the  Military  Order  of 
the  Loyal  Legion,  the  Regular  Army  and  Navy  Union,  the  Union  Vet- 
eran Legion,  the  Spanish  war  veterans  and  the  G.  A.  R.  As  these 
veterans  of  the  Civil  War  passed  the  waiting  hearse  wheeled  slowly  into 
line,  the  guards  of  honor  from  the  army  and  the  navy  took  up  positions 
on  either  side  of  the  hearse  and  the  funeral  cortege  proper  took  its  ap- 
pointed place  behind  a  delegation  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic. 

MR.  CLEVELAND  PRECEDES  PRESIDENT  ROOSEVELT. 

Close  behind  the  hearse  came  a  carriage  in  which  were  seated  ex- 
President  Grover  Cleveland,  Rear  Admiral  Robley  D.  Evans  and  Gen- 
eral John  M.  Wilson.  In  a  carriage  drawn  by  four  fine  black  horses 
coming  next  were  President  Roosevelt,  Mrs.  Roosevelt  and  Commander 
W.  S.  Cowles,  the  President's  brother-in-law. 

Then  folowed  a  line  of  carriages  bearing  all  the  members  of  the 
cabinet,  a  number  of  ex-members,  and  behind  them  the  diplomatic  corps. 

Curtains  were  drawn  so  it  was  difficult  to  distinguish  their  occu- 
pants. Solemnly  the  funeral  party  wound  down  past  the  Treasury  Build- 
ing and  into  the  broad  sweep  of  Pennsylvania  Avenue  amid  profound 
silence  that  was  awful  to  those  who  only  six  months  before  had  witnessed 
the  enthusiastic  plaudits  which  greeted  the  dead  man  as  he  made  the 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  211 

• 

same  march  to  assume  for  a  second  time  the  honors  and  burdens  of  the 
Presidential  office. 

The  artillery  band  played  a  solemn  dirge  as  it  with  slow  steps  led 
the  sorrowful  way  down  the  avenue.  All  the  military  organizations  car- 
ried their  arms,  but  with  colors  draped  and  furled.  The  crowds  were 
silent,  all  was  sad,  mournful  and  oppressive.  The  people  stood  with 
heads  uncovered  and  many  bowed  in  apparently  silent  prayer  as  the  hearse 
passed  along.  A  slow,  drizzling  rain  was  falling. 

After  the  carriages  in  which  were  diplomats  followed  a  long  line  of 
others  containing  the  Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court,  the  Senate  and 
House  Committees  appointed  to  attend  the  funeral,  the  local  judiciary, 
the  assistant  secretaries  of  the  several  executive  departments,  members 
of  the  various  government  commissions  and  official  representatives  of 
the  insular  governments. 

MANY  BODIES  REPRESENTED. 

Composing  the  remainder  of  the  procession  were  representatives  of 
local  bodies  of  Knights  Templars,  over  1,000  members  of  the  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic,  the  United  Confederate  Veterans  of  Washington 
and  Alexandria,  Va.,  various  religious  and  patriotic  societies,  including 
the  Sons  of  the  American  Revolution ;  secret  societies  and  labor  organiza- 
tions of  the  city. 

Scattered  here  and  there  at  intervals  were  representatives  of  out- 
of-town  organizations,  including  the  Ohio  Republican  Club,  the  Repub- 
lican Club  of  New  York  City,  the  New  York  Italian  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce and  the  New  York  Board  of  Trade  and  Transportation,  the  New 
York  Democratic  Honest  Money  League  and  the  Southern  Manufac- 
turers' Club  of  Charlotte,  N.  C. 

The  military  order  of  the  Loyal  Legion,  of  which  President  Mc- 
Kinley  was  an  honored  member,  with  a  representation  from  the  New 
York  and  Pennsylvania  Commanderies,  formed  a  conspicuous  part  in  this 
portion  of  the  procession,  as  also  did  the  Knights  Templars  of  Wash- 
ington and  of  Alexandria,  Va.,  and  a  battalion  of  the  Uniform  Rank 
Knights  of  Pythias.  The  full  force  of  letter  carriers  of  Washington, 
each  man  with  a  band  of  black  crepe  around  his  arm,  walked  to  the  sol- 
emn tread  of  the  dirge.  The  banners  of  all  organizations  were  folded 
and  draped  with  black  and  all  the  marching  civilians  wore  mourning 
badges  and  white  gloves. 

Fife  and  Drum  Corps  Bands  rendered  at  frequent  intervals  along 
the  route  the  President's  favorite  hymn,  "Nearer,  My  God,  to  Thee." 
The  procession  occupied  one  hour  and  a  half  in  passing  a  given  point. 


212  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

For  hours  before  the  arrival  of  the  funeral  cortege  at  the  east  front 
of  the  Capitol  an  impenetrable  cordon  of  people  had  massed  along  the 
walk  and  areas  fronting  the  plaza.  Thousands  upon  thousands  of  sor- 
rowing people  had  gathered  here  to  pay  their  last  tribute  of  respect  and 
love  to  the  memory  of  the  dead  magistrate. 

CROWDS  STAND  IN  THE  RAIN. 

The  entrances  to  the  Senate  and  House  wings  of  the  Capitol  and  the 
great  marble  staircases  ascending  from  the  plaza  to  the  respective  en- 
trances of  the  house  and  senate  were  jammed  with  people.  A  good  rain 
was  falling,  but  despite  this  the  vast  crowds  clung  to  their  places.  It  was 
a  silent  throng.  Scarcely  even  was  the  murmur  of  whispered  conversa- 
tion audible. 

The  police  arrangements  were  perfected  early  in  the  day.  Captains 
Cross  and  Pierson,  by  direction  of  the  Superintendent  of  Police,  Major 
Richard  Sylvester,  cleared  the  plaza  and  threw  around  it  a  cordon  of 
officers.  The  main  entrance  to  the  rotunda  of  the  Capitol,  in  which  the 
religious  exercises  incident  to  the  obsequies  were  to  be  held  was  reserved 
for  distinguished  guests  and  for  the  entrance  of  the  funeral  party. 

Shortly  after  9  o'clock  selected  details  from  the  Nineteenth,  Thirty- 
ninth  and  One  Hundred  and  Thirteenth  Companies,  Artillery  Corps,  un- 
der command  of  Captain  W.  E.  Ellis,  arrived  and  were  stationed  on  the 
north  side  of  the  main  steps,  ascending  from  the  plaza  to  the  rotunda. 

A  similar  detachment  of  seamen  from  the  United  States  battleship 
Illinois,  under  command  of  Lieutenant  De  Stirguer  and  Naval  Cadets 
Williams  and  Bruff,  together  with  a  detail  of  marines  from  Washington 
barracks,  under  command  of  Captain  J.  H.  Russell,  was  stationed  on 
the  south  side  of  the  steps. 

Shortly  afterward  prominent  officers  of  the  army  and  navy  in  full- 
dress  uniform  began  to  arrive  in  carriages.  They  did  not  enter  the 
rotunda  at  once,  but  remained  on  the  portico  to  form,  in  accordance  with 
general  orders,  a  part  of  the  guard  of  honor  of  the  President's  remains. 

ADMIRAL  DEWEY  ARRIVES  EARLY. 

Admiral  Dewey  was  an  early  arrival.  He  was  attired  in  the  bril- 
liant uniform  of  the  Admiral  of  the  Navy,  but  wore  the  regulation  service 
sword  with  its  knot  of  crape  at  the  hilt  instead  of  the  handsome  sword 
presented  to  him  by  the  American  people.  He  was  given  a  most  cordial 
reception. 

At  10:12  o'clock  the  head  of  the  procession  arrived  at  the  north  end 
of  the  Capitol  plaza,  but  instead  of  swinging  directly  into  the  plaza  and 
passing  in  front  of  the  Capitol,  as  usually  is  done  on  the  occasion  of  Presi- 


The  Last  Ca.r  of  the  McKinley 
FuneraJ  Train 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  217 

dential  inaugurations,  the  military  contingent  passed  eastward  on  B 
Street,  thence  south  on  First  Street  east. 

Headed  by  Major  General  John  R.  Brooke  and  staff  and  the  Fifth 
Artillery  Corps  Band,  the  troops  swept  around  to  the  south  end  of  the 
plaza  and  then  marched  to  position  fronting  the  main  entrance  to  the 
Capitol.  As  soon  as  they  had  been  formed  at  rest  the  artillery  band  on 
the  left  and  the  marine  band  on  the  right  of  the  entrance,  the  funeral 
cortege  with  its  guard  of  honor  entered  the  plaza  from  the  north.  As 
the  hearse  halted  in  front  of  the  main  staircase  the  troops,  responding  to 
almost  whispered  commands,  presented  arms. 

The  guard  of  honor  ascended  the  steps,  the  naval  officers  on  the 
right  and  the  army  officers  on  the  left  forming  a  cordon  on  each  side, 
just  within  the  ranks  of  the  artillerymen,  seamen  and  marines. 

IMPRESSIVE  SERVICES  IN  THE  ROTUNDA. 

Profound  silence  reigned  in  the  rotunda  of  the  Capitol  when  the  flag- 
covered  coffin  containing  the  body  of  President  McKinley  was  borne  to 
its  funeral  catafalque.  The  strains  of'  "Nearer,  My  God,  to  Thee," 
floated  into  the  great  circular  hall  from  the  steps  outside,  where  the  Ma- 
rine Band  was  playing  President  McKinley's  favorite  hymn. 

Few  of  the  illustrious  personages  gathered  in  attendance  upon  the 
services  knew  the  former  President's  ashes  were  so  near  the  arched  en- 
trance, but  the  silence  was  so  intense  as  to  be  painful. 

Suddenly  the  silken  folds  of  the  National  Emblem,  the  latter  being 
draped  over  the  casket,  became  visible,  and  a  moment  later  the  eight 
lusty  sailors  who  upheld  the  coffin  stepped  noiselessly  in  with  their  bur- 
den. The  unbroken  and  absolute  quiet  continued  until  the  heavy  coffin 
reposed  on  its  black  resting-place,  directly  under  the  center  of  the  great 
rounded  dome. 

Then  the  shuffling  of  feet  denoted  the  arrival  of  the  family,  the  close 
friends  and  the  officials  who  had  followed  the  hearse  in  the  funeral  pro- 
cession from  the  White  House.  The  army  officials  with  their  gorgeous 
gold  of  their  full-dress  uniforms,  the  naval  officers  similarly  attired,  the 
diplomats  in  the  various  costumes  of  the  countries  whose  rulers  they 
were  representing  at  the  funeral  pageant,  the  dignified  Justices  of  the 
Supreme  Court  in  their  flowing  robes,  the  members  of  the  cabinet,  and 
United  States  Senators  and  Representatives.  Many  had  arrived  in  ad- 
vance, but  those  who  had  ridden  in  the  funeral  procession  did  not  come  in 
until  after  the  body  had  been  placed  in  position  for  the  services. 

Soon,  above  the  movement  of  chairs  on  the  marble  floor  and  the 
muffled  tread  of  the  many  feet,  there  softly  arose  the  sound  of  several 


2i8  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

human  voices.  It  was  the  choir  of  the  Metropolitan  M.  E.  Church, 
President  McKinley's  place  of  worship  in  Washington.  Many  times  the 
same  choir  had  chanted  "Lead,  Kindly  Light,"  with  the  President  for  an 
attentive  auditor.  Now  they  were  doing  it  softly  over  the  body  of  him 
they  loved. 

Gradually  the  soft,  sobbing  tones  conquered  the  echoing  roar  of  the 
movement  of  the  throng.  Hundreds  of  persons  bearing  tickets  had  not 
been  seated,  so  the  same  degree  of  dramatic  silence  which  pervaded  ev- 
erything at  the  time  the  body  arrived  was  not  attained. 

Tones  of  a  small  melodeon  guided  the  singers  through  the  beautiful 
melody,  the  sound  of  which  brought  tears  to  the  eyes  of  many  who  so 
intimately  associated  it  with  the  President's  affection  for  the  words  and 
music.  The  shuffling  of  chairs  and  feet  did  not  cease  even  with  the  end 
of  the  hymn,  as  scores  were  not  seated.  Busy  ushers  directed  the  ticket- 
bearers  to  the  vacant  chairs  even  while  the  invocation  was  being  pro- 
nounced and  the  funeral  address  delivered. 

PRESIDENT  AND  MRS.  ROOSEVELT  ARRIVE. 

President  Roosevelt  and  Mrs.  Roosevelt  were  among  the  latest  of 
the  official  guests  to  arrive  before  the  hymn  was  sung.  Mrs.  Roosevelt 
leaned  on  the  stalwart  arm  of  her  husband  and  the  black  veil  she  wore 
failed  to  conceal  the  tears  which  rolled  down  her  cheeks  upon  the  sad 
occasion  which  marked  Mr.  Roosevelt's  first  visit  to  the  National  Capitol 
as  President  of  the  Nation. 

President  Roosevelt's  head  was  bowed  as  he  passed  by  the  coffin  to 
the  seats  reserved  for  his  party,  almost  at  the  right  hand  of  the  ministers. 

Impressive  were  the  services,  although  the  words  spoken  were 
scarcely  heard  by  the  few  near  the  casket,  owing  to  the  overpowering 
echoes  which  caught  up  every  sound  and  repeated  it  with  confusing  re- 
verberation. The  spirit  of  all  that  was  spoken  was  caught  by  all  and 
understood,  however.  The  invocation,  pronounced  slowly  with  deep 
emotion  by  the  Rev.  Henry  R.  Naylor,  D.  D.,  was  followed  by  the  funeral 
address,  delivered  by  Bishop  Edward  G.  Andrews,  D.  D. 

Dr.  Naylor's  prayer  was  as  follows : 

"O  Lord  God,  our  Heavenly  Father,  a  bereaved  nation  cometh  to 
Thee  in  its  deep  sorrow.  To  whom  can  we  go  in  such  an  hour  as  this 
but  unto  Thee  ?  Thou  only  art  able  to  comfort  and  support  the  afflicted. 

"Death  strikes  down  the  best  of  men  and  consequent  changes  are 
continually  occurring  among  nations  and  communities.  But  we  have 
been  taught  that  Thou  are  the  same  yesterday,  today  and  forever;  that 


"Leaid,  Kindly  Lijjht. 

President  McKinley's  Favorite  Hymn. 


Leal  kiadly  light,  amid  the  encircling  gloom,- 

Lead  thou  me  on) 
The  sight  is  dark,  and  I  am  far  from  home; 

lead  thou  me  ont 

Keep  thou  my  feet;  I  do  not  ask  to  see 
The  distant  scene—one  step's  enough  for  me. 
I  was  not  ever  thus,  nor  prayed  that  thou 

Shouldst  lead  me  on; 
t  loved  to  choose  and  see  my  path,  but  now 

Lead  thou  me  on  i 

I  loved  the  garish  day,  and.  spite  of  fears, 
Pride  rnled  my  will ,-  remember  not  past  years. 
So  long  thy  power  hath,  blessed  me,  sure  it  still 

Will  lead  me  on: 
O'er  moor  and  fen.  o'er  crag  and  torrent  (ill 


219 


220  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

with  Thee  there  is  no  variableness,  nor  the  least  shadow  of  turning.  So 
in  the  midst  of  our  grief  we  turn  to  Thee  for  help. 

"We  thank  Thee,  O  Lord,  that  years  ago  Thou  didst  give  to  this 
nation  a  man  whose  loss  we  mourn  today. 

"We  thank  Thee  for  the  pure  and  unselfish  life  he  was  enabled  to 
live  in  the  midst  of  so  eventful  an  experience. 

"We  thank  Thee  for  the  faithful  and  distinguished  services  which 
he  was  enabled  to  render  Thee,  to  our  country  and  to  the  world. 

"We  bless  Thee  for  such  a  citizen,  for  such  a  lawmaker,  for  such 
a  governor,  for  such  a  President,  for  such  a  husband,  for  such  a  Chris- 
tian example  and  for  a  friend. 

PLEADS  FOR  THE  WIDOW. 

"But,  O  Lord,  we  deplore  our  loss  today.  We  sincerely  implore  Thy 
sanctifying  benediction.  We  pray  Thee  for  that  dear  one  who  has  been 
walking  by  his  side  through  the  years,  sharing  his  triumphs  and  partak- 
ing of  his  sorrows.  Give  to  her  all  needed  sustenance  and  the  comfort 
her  stricken  heart  so  greatly  craves.  And  under  the  shadow  of  this  great 
calamity  may  she  learn  as  never  before  the  Fatherhood  of  God  and  the 
matchless  character  of  His  sustaining  grace. 

"And,  O  Lord,  we  sincerely  pray  for  him  upon  whom  the  mantle 
of  Presidential  authority  has  so  suddenly  and  unexpectedly  fallen.  Help 
him  to  walk  worthily  the  high  vocation  whereunto  he  has  been  called. 
He  needs  Thy  guiding  hand  and  Thine  inspiring  spirit  continually.  May 
he  always  present  to  the  nation  and  to  the  world  divinely  illumined  judg- 
ment, a  brave  heart  and  an  unsullied  character. 

"Hear  our  prayer,  O  Lord,  for  the  official  family  of  the  administra- 
tion— those  men  who  are  associated  with  Thy  servant,  the  President,  in 
the  administration  of  the  affairs  of  government.  Guide  them  in  all  their 
deliberations  to  the  nation's  welfare  and  the  glory  of  God. 

"And  now,  Lord,  we  humbly  pray  for  Thy  blessing  and  consolation 
to  come  to  all  the  people  of  our  land  and  nation.  Forgive  our  past  short- 
comings ;  our  sins  of  omission  as  well  as  our  sins  of  commission. 

"Help  us  to  make  the  Golden  Rule  the  standard  of  our  lives,  that  we 
may  'do  unto  others  as  we  would  have  them  do  to  unto  us '  and  thus  be- 
come indeed  a  people  whose  God  is  the  Lord. 

"These  things  we  humbly  ask  in  the  name  of  Him  who  taught  us 
when  we  pray  to  say:  'Our  Father  which  art  in  Heaven,  hallowed  be 
Thy  name;  Thy  Kingdom  come;  Thy  will  be  done  in  Earth  as  it  is  in 
Heaven.  Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread,  and  forgive  us  our  trespasses 
as  we  forgive  them  that  trespass  against  us.  And  lead  us  not  into 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  221 

temptation,  but  deliver  us  from  evil,  for  Thine  is  the  Kingdom  and  the 
power  and  the  glory  forever.     Amen." 

Bishop  Andrews'  patriarchal  and  kindly  appearance,  added  to  the 
eloquent  depth  of  feeling  manifested  in  every  word  he  spoke,  made  a 
profound  impression. 

BISHOP  ANDREWS'  FUNERAL  SERMON. 

Bishop  Andrews'  sermon  was  a  beautiful  tribute  to  the  life  and  char- 
acter of  the  fallen  chieftain. 

"Blessed  be  the  God  and  Father  of  Our  Lord,  who  of  His  abundant 
mercy  hath  begotten  us  again  unto  a  lively  hope  of  the  resurrection  from 
the  dead,  to  an  inheritance  incorruptible,  undefiled  and  that  fadeth  not 
away,  reserved  in  Heaven  for  us  who  are  now,  by  the  power  of  God 
through  faith  unto  salvation,  ready  to  be  revealed  in  the  last  time. 

"The  services  for  the  dead  are  fitly  and  almost  of  necessity  services 
of  religion  and  of  immortal  hope.  In  the  presence  of  the  shroud  and  the 
coffin  and  the  narrow  home,  questions  concerning  intellectual  quality, 
concerning  public  station,  concerning  great  achievements,  sink  into  com- 
parative insignificance;  and  questions  concerning  character  and  man's 
relation  to  the  Lord  and  Giver  of  life,  even  the  life  eternal,  emerge  to  our 
view  and  impress  themselves  upon  us. 

"Character  abides.  We  bring  nothing  into  this  world ;  we  can  carry 
nothing  out.  We  ourselves  depart  with  all  the  accumulations  of  ten- 
dency and  habit  and  quality  which  the  years  have  given  to  us.  We  ask, 
therefore,  even  at  the  grave  of  the  illustrious,  not  altogether  what  great 
achievement  they  had  performed  and  how  they  had  commanded  them- 
selves to  the  memory  and  affection  or  respect  of  the  world,  but  chiefly  of 
what  sort  they  were ;  what  the  interior  nature  of  the  man  was ;  what  were 
his  affinities  ?  Were  they  with  the  good,  the  truth,  the  noble  ?  What  his 
relation  to  the  infinite  Lord  of  the  Universe  and  to  the  compassionate 
Savior  of  mankind ;  what  his  fitness  for  that  great  hereafter  to  which  he 
had  passed? 

"And  such  great  questions  come  to  us  with  moment,  even  in  the  hour 
when  we  gather  around  the  bier  of  those  whom  we  profoundly  respect 
and  eulogize  and  whom  we  tenderly  love.  In  the  years  to  come,  the  days 
and  the  months  that  lie  immediately  before  us,  will  give  full  utterance 
as  to  the  high  statesmanship  and  great  achievements  of  the  illustrious 
man  whom  we  mourn  today.  We  shall  not  touch  them  today.  The  na- 
tion already  has  broken  out  in  its  grief  and  poured  its  tears,  and  is  still 
pouring  them,  over  the  loss  of  a  beloved  man.  It  is  well.  But  we  ask 
this  morning  of  what  sort  this  man  is,  so  that  we  may  perhaps,  knowing 


222  WILLIAM  MCKINLEY. 

the  moral  and  spiritual  life  that  is  past,  be  able  to  shape  the  far-with- 
drawing future.  I  think  we  must  all  concede  that  nature  and  training 
and — reverently  be  it  said — the  inspiration  of  the  Almighty  conspired  to 
conform  a  man  admirable  in  his  moral  temper  and  aims. 

"We  none  of  us  can  doubt,  I  think,  that  even  by  nature  he  was 
eminently  gifted.  The  kindly,  calm  and  equitable  temperament,  the 
kindly  and  generous  heart,  the  love  of  justice  and  right  and  the  tendency 
toward  faith  and  loyalty  to  unseen  powers  and  authorities — these  things 
must  have  been  with  him  from  his  childhood,  from  his  infancy — but  upon 
them  supervened  the  training  for  which  he  was  always  tenderly  thankful 
and  of  which  even  this  great  nation  from  sea  to  sea  continually  has  taken 
note. 

"It  was  a  humble  home  in  which  he  was  born.  Narrow  conditions 
were  around  him,  but  faith  in  God  had  lifted  that  lowly  roof,  according 
to  the  statement  of  some  great  writer,  up  to  the  very  heavens  and  per- 
mitted its  inmates  to  behold  the  thing  eternal,  immortal  and  divine ;  and 
he  came  under  that  training. 

"It  is  a  beautiful  thing  that  to  the  end  of  his  life  he  bent  reverently 
before  that  mother  whose  example  and  teaching  and  prayer  had  so  fash- 
ioned his  mind  and  all  his  aims. 

"He  was  helpful  in  all  of  these  beneficencies  and  activities ;  and  from 
the  church  to  the  close  of  his  life  he  received  inspiration  that  lifted  him 
above  much  of  the  trouble  and  weakness  incident  to  our  human  nature, 
and,  blessings  be  to  God,  may  we  say  in  the  last  and  final  hour  they  en- 
abled him  confidently,  tenderly,  to  say :  'It  is  His  will,  not  ours,  that  will 
be  done.' 

"Such  influences  gave  to  us  William  McKinley.  And  what  was  he  ? 
A  man  of  incorruptible  personal  and  political  integrity.  I  suppose  no  one 
ever  attempted  to  approach  him  in  the  way  of  a  bribe ;  and  we  remember 
with  great  felicitation  at  this  time  for  such  an  example  to  ourselves,  that 
when  great  financial  difficulties  and  perils  encompassed  him  he  determined 
to  deliver  all  he  possessed  to  his  creditors ;  that  there  should  be  no  chal- 
lenge of  his  perfect  honesty  in  the  matter.  A  man  of  immaculate  purity, 
shall  we  say? 

"No  stain  was  upon  his  escutcheon;  no  syllable  of  suspicion  that  I 
ever  heard  was  whispered  against  his  character.  He  walked  in  perfect 
and  noble  self-control. 

"Shall  I  speak  a  word  next  of  that  which  I  will  hardly  advert  to? 
The  tenderness  of  that  domestic  love  which  has  so  often  been  commented 
upon?  I  pass  it  with  only  that  word.  I  take  it  that  no  words  can  set 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  223 

forth  fully  the  unfaltering  kindness  and  carefulness  and  upbearing  love 
which  belonged  to  this  great  man. 

"And  now  may  I  say  further  that  it  seemed  to  me  that  to  whatever 
we  may  attribute  all  the  illustriousness  of  this  man,  all  the  greatness  of 
his  achievements — whatever  of  that  we  may  attribute  to  his  intellectual 
character  and  quality,  whatever  of  it  we  may  attribute  to  the  patient 
and  thorough  study  which  he  gave  to  the  various  questions  thrust  upon 
him  for  attention,  for  all  his  successes  as  a  politician,  as  a  statesman  as  a 
man  of  this  great  country,  those  successes  were  largely  due  to  the  moral 
qualities  of  which  I  have  spoken.  They  drew  to  him  the  hearts  of  men 
everywhere  and  particularly  of  those  who  best  knew  him. 

"They  believed  in  him,  felt  his  kindness,  confided  in  his  honesty  and 
in  his  honor.  His  qualities  even  associated  with  him  in  kindly  rela- 
tions those  who  were  his  political  opponents.  They  made  it  possible  for 
him  to  enter  that  land  with  which  he,  as  one  of  the  soldiers  of  the  union, 
had  been  in  some  sort  at  war  and  to  draw  closed  the  tie  that  was  to  bind 
all  the  parts  in  one  firmer  and  indissoluble  union.  They  commanded  the 
confidence  of  the  great  body  of  congress,  so  that  they  listened  to  his  plans 
and  accepted  kindly  and  hopefully  and  trustfully  all  his  declarations. 
His  qualities  gave  him  reputation,  not  in  this  land  alone,  but  throughout 
the  world,  and  made  it  possible  for  him  to  minister  in  the  style  in  which 
he  has  within  the  last  two  or  three  years  ministered  to  the  welfare  and 
peace  of  humankind. 

"It  was  out  of  the  profound  depths  of  his  moral  and  religious  char- 
acter that  came  the  possibilities  of  that  usefulness  which  we  are  all  glad 
to  attribute  to  him.  And  will  such  a  man  die?  Is  it  possible  that  He 
who  created,  redeemed,  transformed,  uplifted,  illumined  such  a  man  will 
permit  him  to  fall  into  oblivion? 

"The  instincts  of  morality  are  in  all  good  men.  The  Divine  word  of 
the  scripture  leaves  us  no  room  for  doubt.  'I,'  said  one  whom  he  trusted, 
'am  the  resurrection  and  the  life.  He  that  believeth  in  Me,  though  he 
were  dead,  yet  shall  he  live,  and  whosoever  liveth  and  believeth  in  Me 
shall  never  die.' 

"Lost  to  us,  but  not  to  his  God.  Lost  from  earth,  but  entered 
Heaven.  Lost  from  these  labors  and  toils  and  perils,  but  entered  into 
the  everlasting  peace  and  everadvancing  progress.  Blessed  be  God  who 
gives  us  this  hope  in  the  hour  of  our  calamity,  and  enables  us  to  triumph 
through  Him  who  hath  redeemed  us. 

"If  there  is  a  personal  immortality  before  him  let  us  also  rejoice  that 
there  is  an  immortality  and  memory  in  the  hearts  of  a  large  and  ever- 


224  WILLIAM    McKI  N  LEY. 

growing  people,  who,  through  the  ages  to  come,  the  generations  that  are 
yet  to  be,  will  look  back  upon  this  life,  upon  its  nobility  and  purity  and 
service  to  humanity,  and  thank  God  for  it.  The  years  draw  on  when  his 
name  shall  be  counted  among  the  illustrious  of  the  earth. 

"William  of  Orange  is  not  dead.  Cromwell  is  not  dead.  Washing- 
ton lives  in  the  hearts  and  lives  of  his  countrymen.  Lincoln,  with  his 
infinite  sorrow,  lives  to  teach  us  and  lead  us  on.  And  McKinley  shall 
summon  all  statesmen  and  all  his  countrymen  to  purer  living,  nobler  aims, 
sweeter  and  immortal  blessedness." 

THE  PRESIDENT  SHOWS  EMOTION. 

President  Roosevelt  attentively  regarded  the  venerable  preacher  for 
some  time  and  then  bowed  and  leaned  his  forehead  upon  his  right  hand. 
Whether  tears  flowed  beneath  the  shadow  of  his  hand  may  never  be  known 
by  any  but  himself.  Ex-President  Cleveland,  not  nearly  so  heavy  as 
when  he  lived  in  the  White  House,  regarded  the  speaker  attentively  from 
a  seat  a  few  feet  from  President  Roosevelt.  The  eyes  of  hundreds  of 
men  who  had  made  and  would  make  history  were  centered  attentively 
and  respectfully  upon  the  speaker  whose  sad  privilege  it  was  to  officiate 
at  the  funeral. 

Clear  and  bell-like  the  music  of  the  old  hymn,  "Some  Time  We'll 
Understand,"  ascended  to  the  high  vault  of  the  dome  when  the  soprano 
of  the  Metropolitan  Church  sang  its  verses.  The  choir  joined  softly  in 
the  chorus  and  then  the  benediction  was  pronounced  by  the  Rev.  W.  H. 
Chapman,  D.  D. 

A  DRAMATIC  INCIDENT  OCCURS. 

Following  the  benediction  came  one  of  the  most  intensely  dramatic 
happenings  of  the  entire  ceremony.  The  choir  began  to  softly  syllable 
the  first  lines  of  the  hymn,  "Nearer,  My  God,  to  Thee."  For  several 
lines  the  choir  alone  followed  the  melodion  in  the  time.  Then  the  vol- 
ume of  the  song  was  audibly  increased.  A  few  of  the  audience,  unable 
to  restrain  themselves,  had  joined  their  voices  with  those  of  the  chosen 
singers.  Their  example  was  followed  timidly  by  others  until  the  dome 
rang  with  the  notes  of  the  solemn  and  beloved  song. 

Almost  afraid  of  the  sound  of  their  own  voices,  so  sacred  was  the 
occasion,  but  impelled  by  the  intensity  of  their  feeling,  the  hundreds  as- 
sembled disregarded  the  fact  that  the  programme  as  planned  had  not 
included  any  song  by  the  audience.  The  spontaneity  of  the  outburst  was 
overwhelming  and  so  contagious  was  the  spirit  of  song  that  hardly  a  lip 
in  the  room  was  still. 


WILLIAM    McKIN LEY.  225 

HARDENED  FIGHTERS  JOIN  IN. 

President  Roosevelt  murmured  the  words  of  the  song  along  with 
the  other  auditors.  The  lines  of  his  face,  which  had  been  hard  with  the 
rigidity  of  trial  and  grief,  softened  into  an  expression  of  the  tenderest 
sympathy  as  his  lips  moved  in  singing  the  hymn. 

Ex-President  Grover  Cleveland,  the  very  embodiment  of  stately 
dignity,  seemed  even  more  dignified  as  his  lips  parted  with  a  barely 
perceptible  motion  in  response  to  the  rhythm  of  the  hymn.  Officers  of 
the  army  and  navy  who  had  seen  death  in  its  worst  form  without  a  tremor 
and  possibly  who  had  not  sung  a  church  hymn  for  many  years  hummed 
the  tune  when  they  could  not  remember  the  words. 

To  record  that  all  eyes  were  misty  with  tears  at  the  end  of  the 
hymn  would  be  an  exaggeration,  but  the  undimmed  eyes  were  the  excep- 
tion, not  the  rule.  Senator  Hanna  wiped  his  forehead  and  eyes,  Abner 
McKinley  held  his  handkerchief  to  his  face  and  most  of  the  women 
present  shook  with  sobs.  Senator  Hanna's  grief  has  seemed  almost 
monumental  in  its  intensity.  The  Senator  was  the  first  to  leave  the  rotun- 
da after  the  song  was  over.  He  leaned  heavily  upon  the  arm  of  John  C. 
Milburn  as  he  hobbled  away.  His  shoulders  were  more  stooped  than 
ever  and  his  demeanor  was  one  of  absolute  dejection. 

It  was  an  affecting  moment.  In  the  midst  of  the  singing  Admiral 
Robley  Evans,  advancing  with  silent  tread,  placed  a  beautiful  blue  floral 
cross  at  the  foot  of  the  coffin. 

A  respectful  silence  followed  the  end  of  the  hymn  which  marked 
the  conclusion  of  the  funeral  services.  A  few  moments  elapsed  and  then 
the  rotunda  was  cleared  for  the  body  to  lie  in  state  to  be  viewed  by 
the  great  multitude  who  were  crowding  the  steps  ready  to  pass  through 
in  double  file  on  either  side  of  the  coffin.  The  flag  was  draped  back 
from  the  head  of  the  casket,  the  velvet-covered  lid  was  removed  and  the 
President's  face  was  exposed  to  the  light,  which  poured  in  through  the 
upper  windows  of  the  dome. 

The  Senators  and  Representatives  sat  at  the  foot  of  the  casket,  the 
Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court,  in  their  flowing  black  robes,  sat  at  its 
right  hand,  near  the  President,  the  diplomats  and  the  army  and  navy 
officers.  The  space  on  the  left  hand  was  reserved  for  invited  friends 
of  the  family  and  unofficial  guests  of  the  funeral.  The  chairs  for  all 
the  guests  were  arranged  in  circles  around  the  center,  where  the  body  lay. 

It  was  up  the  east  front  of  the  capitol  that  the  lines  of  people  came 
for  a  view  of  the  President's  face.  To  most  of  those  who  passed  his  bier 
the  face  therein  was  familiar,  not  familiar  in  its  look  of  suffering,  but 


226  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

in  the  features,  which  usually  wore  a  genial  smile  or  an  expression  of 
thoughtful  dignity. 

In  two  double  lines  the  crowd  passed  quickly  by.  The  military  and 
naval  guard  at  the  head  and  foot  of  the  coffin  was  ready  to  protect  it 
from  possible  harm  from  awkwardness  of  any  who  might  pass. 

Many  colored  folks  were  among  those  who  had  their  last  look  at 
the  dead  President's  features,  and  the  emotion  of  their  race  was  mani- 
fested by  the  tear  stains  on  their  dusky  faces.  Many  of  those  in  line  were 
subordinate  officials  of  the  Government,  who  took  the  farewell  look  at 
the  features  of  their  late  chief. 

There  were  nearly  as  many  women  as  men  in  the  crowd.  Uniforms 
of  private  soldiers  and  the  liveries  of  coachmen  added  variety  to  the 
appearance  of  the  line,  but  there  was  one  feature  of  the  demonstration 
in  which  there  was  no  variety.  It  was  in  the  uniform  and  intense  grief 
which  was  evident  in  the  bearing  of  all. 

MANY  HURT  IN  CAPITOL  CRUSH. 

The  opening  of  the  doors  of  the  rotunda  of  the  Capitol,  in  order 
to  permit  an  inspection  of  the  body  of  President  McKinley,  caused  a 
rush  of  the  vast  throng  that  had  been  congregated  on  the  east  side  of 
the  building  since  early  morning.  The  result  was  that  many  women  and 
children  were  badly  hurt.  The  crowd  brushed  by  the  police  cordon 
stationed  at  the  foot  of  the  steps  as  if  it  had  been  chaff.  A  terrible 
congestion  on  the  Capitol  steps  and  at  the  entrance  door  followed.  At  the 
latter  point  there  was  such  extreme  pressure  that  numbers  of  women 
fainted. 

Many  who  thus  became  helpless  were  lifted  up  bodily  and  carried 
out  over  the  heads  of  the  crowd,  while  others,  less  fortunate,  were 
trampled  under  foot  and  seriously  bruised.  Of  the  latter  twelve  or 
fifteen  were  taken  into  the  Capitol.  The  room  immediately  under  the 
rotunda,  where  the  President's  body  lay  in  calm  and  peaceful  repose, 
was  a  temporary  hospital  filled  with  screaming  women  lying  prone  upon 
improvised  couches.  One  of  them  had  a  broken  arm  and  another  had 
suffered  internal  injuries  which  caused  excruciating  pain. 

The  office  of  the  captain  of  police  also  was  used  to  accommodate  the 
injured,  as  were  several  other  places  about  the  building.  No  fewer  than 
fifty  women  and  children  were  injured  to  some  extent,  but  most  of  them 
were  able  to  go  to  their  homes.  A  few  were  taken  to  the  Emergncy 
Hospital. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

CLOSING  SCENES  IN  THE  SAD  TRAGEDY  OF  THE  MARTYRDOM  OF  PRESIDENT 
McKiNLEY — TRIP  FROM  WASHINGTON  TO  CANTON — MRS.  McKiN- 
LEY  LEAVES  THE  WHITE  HOUSE  FOREVER — FINAL  EXERCISES  AT  THE 
PRESIDENT'S  OLD  HOME,  AND  BURIAL. 


It  was  about  6  o'clock  the  evening  of  September  I7th  when  the  mili- 
tary and  naval  guard  took  charge  of  the  President's  body  in  the  rotunda 
of  the  Capitol,  the  doors  having  been  closed  a  few  minutes  previously. 

The  military  escort  was  re-formed  at  7  o'clock,  and  the  casket  was 
removed  from  the  Capitol  to  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Station,  whence  it 
was  taken  at  8 120  o'clock  on  the  road  to  Canton.  There  the  people  among 
whom  William  McKinley  grew  to  manhood  and  to  greatness  participated 
in  the  consignment  of  his  body  to  the  tomb. 

A  platoon  of  mounted  police  cleared  the  way  from  the  Capitol  to  the 
depot,  and  two  troops  of  cavalry  preceded  the  hearse.  No  members  of 
the  Cabinet  or  representatives  of  the  family  were  in  line,  but  all  officers 
of  the  army  and  navy  in  the  city  formed  the  escort. 

Soon  after  the  remains  of  the  beloved  President  were  placed  in  the 
observation  car  members  of  the  Cabinet  and  friends  of  the  family  com- 
menced to  arrive.  Mrs.  McKinley  did  not  leave  the  White  House  until 
7 155  o'clock.  Her  carriage,  surrounded  by  mounted  police  and  followed 
by  the  immediate  mourners,  was  driven  to  the  lower  end  of  the  station 
to  escape  the  crowd. 

The  members  of  the  Cabinet  joined  President  Roosevelt  in  the  car 
arranged  for  them,  while  Senator  Hanna  sat  alone  in  the  adjoining  coach 
bowed  in  sorrow.  Fifteen  carriages  were  required  to  bring  the  mourners 
from  the  White  House. 

PRESIDENT  ROOSEVELT  SHOWS  NO  FEAR. 

President  Roosevelt  promised  to  give  the  secret  service  agents  de- 
tailed to  guard  him  a  great  deal  of  trouble.  He  was  perfectly  indifferent 
to  his  personal  safety  and  disregarded  all  requests  of  friends,  who  were 
anxious  that  he  should  be  more  cautious.  When  his  carriage  reached  the 
railroad  station  the  cavalry  officer  detailed  to  accompany  him,  and  who  had 

227 


228  WILLIAM    Me  KIN  LEY. 

ridden  upon  the  box  beside  the  driver  during  the  ceremonies,  jumped 
hastily  to  the  sidewalk,  and  quickly  opened  the  door.  Quick  as  a  flash  a 
half  dozen  or  more  secret  service  officers  who  had  been  waiting  the  arrival 
of  the  President  hastened  to  his  side  and  gave  him  such  protection  as  they 
could  afford. 

There  was  a  large  crowd  near  by,  but,  unconscious  of  any  danger 
that  might  be  threatening,  the  President  stood  upon  the  pavement  talking 
unconcernedly  with  his  military  attache.  A  carriage  containing  a  friend 
had  driven  up  in  the  rear,  and  the  President  without  warning  walked 
quickly  to  it,  opened  the  door  and  conversed  with  its  occupants. 

As  he  impetuously  moved  down  the  curbstone  into  the  middle  of  the 
crowd  the  secret  service  agents  were  horror  stricken.  They  forced  them- 
selves to  his  side  as  best  they  could,  and  his  brother-in-law,  Commander 
Cowles,  showed  signs  of  anxiety. 

The  President  rubbed  elbows  with  the  crowd  in  a  most  unconventional 
manner.  With  a  short,  snappy  step  he  pushed  his  way  into  the  entrance 
to  the  railroad  station,  raising  his  hat  in  response  to  the  recognition  of  the 
throng.  Down  the  crowded  platform  he  rushed,  with  his  friends  and 
attendants  vainly  endeavoring  to  keep  pace.  He  boarded  the  train  and 
was  safe  with  his  Cabinet,  greatly  to  the  relief  of  his  guardians. 

TRAIN  IN  THREE  SECTIONS. 

The  funeral  train  was  made  up  in  three  sections.  First  was  a  train 
of  eight  cars  bearing  the  following  persons :  S.  J.  Roberts,  Mr.  Doran, 
Mr.  Schunk ;  Cuban  commissioners  Tamayo,  Latosco,  Quesada ;  John  W. 
Yerkes,  Henry  M.  Dawes,  M.  E.  Ailes,  Beman  G.  Dawes,  W.  W.  Mills, 
W.  G.  Edens,  Frank  L.  Campbell,  A.  Warfield  Monroe,  Charles  A.  Hanna, 
W.  C.  Beer,  Francis  C.  Kilkenny,  Colonel  John  J.  McCook,  Captain  John 
F.  Blake,  Clark  Tonner,  A.  W.  Machen,  Percy  Montgomery,  J.  K.  Rich- 
ards, John  J.  Kennedy,  George  Barber,  T.  W.  Tallmadge,  General  T.  H. 
Anderson,  Mr.  Phister  and  forty  newspaper  men. 

PRESIDENT  ON  SECOND  SECTION. 

The  second  section,  carrying  the  body,  was  the  Presidential  train 
proper,  made  up  of  practically  the  same  seven  cars  which  made  the  trip 
from  Buffalo.  The  car  Olympia  was  assigned  to  Mrs.  McKinley,  while 
the  car  Edgemere,  which  came  next,  was  occupied  by  the  President  and 
his  Cabinet.  Behind  in  order  came  the  sleepers  Naples  and  Belgravia, 
the  dining  car  Waldorf  and  a  combination  car. 

On  this  train  were  the  following  passengers: 

Mrs.  McKinley,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Abner  McKinley,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  A.  J. 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  229 

Duncan,  Miss  Helen  McKinley,  Mrs.  M.  C.  Barber,  Miss  Barber,  Mr. 
John  Barber,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  H.  L.  Baer,  Lieutenant  James  McKinley,  Miss 
Sarah  Duncan,  Captain  and  Mrs.  Lafayette  Me  Williams,  Mr.  William 
Duncan,  Mr.  Frank  Osborne,  Mrs.  Seward  Bowman,  Mrs.  E.  A.  Stafford, 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  Rixey,  Charles  G.  Dawes  and  Mrs.  Dawes,  Colonel  G.  F. 
Mock,  Colonel  W.  C.  Brown,  Major  Charles  E.  Miller,  Mr.  Burt  Miller, 
Miss  McKenzie  and  Miss  Hunt  (nurses),  Mrs.  Henry  Mathews,  Mr. 
P.  C.  Schell  and  wife,  Mrs.  Rand,  Mrs.  J.  A.  Porter,  the  President,  Secre- 
tary Root,  Attorney  General  Knox,  Postmaster  General  and  Mrs.  Smith, 
Secretary  Long,  Secretary  and  Mrs.  Hitchcock,  Secretary  and  Miss 
Wilson,  Secretary  and  Mrs.  Cortelyou,  Assistant  Secretary  Hill, 
Assistant  Secretary  Barnes,  Colonel  B.  F.  Montgomery,  M.  C. 
Latta,  N.  P.  Webster,  John  G.  Milburn,  John  Scatcherd, 
Conrad  Diehl,  Harry  Hamlin,  Carlton  Sprague,  Major  Thomas  W.  Sy- 
mons,  U.  S.  A. ;  Senator  Hanna  and  Secretary  Dover,  Senator  Fairbanks, 
Senator  Burrows,  Senator  Keene,  Representative  Alexander,  General 
Michael  V.  Sheridan,  Colonel  T.  Abingham,  Captain  J.  T.  Dean,  Captain 
Henry  Leon  and  General  Harrison  Gray  Otis,  Mr.  A.  N.  H.  Aaron,  H. 
B.  F.  MacFarland,  Ell  Torrance,  representing  the  G.  A.  R.,  and  the  body- 
guard, consisting  of  two  officers  and  sixteen  men. 

The  third  section  was  devoted  entirely  to  the  accommodation  of  the 
army  and  navy  officers.  There  were  Generals  Brooke,  Otis  and  Gillespie, 
Admiral  Dewey  and  Rear  Admirals  Crowninshield,  O'Neill,  Bradford, 
Melville,  Bowles  and  Farquhar,  General  Heywood,  commandant  of 
marines,  and  a  number  of  junior  officers  of  the  army  and  navy. 

A  train  left  Washington  the  following  afternoon  for  the  accommoda- 
tion of  members  of  Congress  and  public  officials  who  desired  to  be  present 
at  the  interment. 

All  the  members  of  the  Cabinet  accompanied  President  Roosevelt, 
with  the  exception  of  Secretary  Hay.  As  a  measure  of  precaution  one 
member  of  the  Cabinet,  probably  Secretary  Hay,  Secretary  Gage  or  Sec- 
retary Root,  was  always  in  Washington. 

If  the  funeral  train  arrives  on  schedule  time  it  will  reach  Canton  at 
II  o'clock  tomorrow  morning.  Only  four  stops  will  be  made,  and  these 
only  for  the  purpose  of  changing  locomotives.  George  W.  Boyd,  assist- 
ant general  passenger  agent  of  the  Pennsylvania  Road,  is  in  charge  of  the 
train.  He  left  on  the  first  section  and  District  Passenger  Agent  Studds  is 
on  the  second  section. 

THE  ARRIVAL  AT  BALTIMORE. 
Leaving  Washington,  the  long  winding  train  bearing  the  remains  of 


230  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

the  martyred  President  plunged  out  into  the  dark  night  and  hurried  like  a 
black  streak  on  its  mournful  journey. 

The  curtains  of  the  train  were  drawn  as  it  pulled  out  of  the  station, 
save  only  for  the  observation  car,  in  which  the  corpse  lay  guarded  by  a 
soldier  and  a  sailor  of  the  Republic.  That  car  alone  was  flooded  with 
light.  The  countless  thousands  extending  from  the  station  far  out  into 
the  suburbs  of  the  National  Capital,  waiting  patiently  in  the  drenching 
rain  to  pay  their  last  farewell,  thus  had  an  opportunity  to  catch  a  last 
fleeting  glimpse  of  the  flag-covered  casket  as  the  train  sped  by.  Several 
thousand  people  on  the  bridge  over  the  eastern  branch  of  the  Potomac, 
straining  for  a  last  look,  could  be  seen  by  the  lights  strung  along  the 
bridge  as  the  train  moved  under  it. 

As  the  little  villages  between  Washington  and  Baltimore  were  passed 
the  sound  of  tolling  bells  came  faintly  to  the  heavy-hearted  mourners 
aboard. 

As  the  train  came  out  of  the  long  tunnel  leading  to  Baltimore,  before 
reaching  the  Union  Station,  thousands  of  silent  forms  could  be  seen,  and 
the  dismal  tolling  of  the  bells  could  be  heard.  A  clear-drawn  bugle  call 
sounded  a  requiem.  At  the  Union  Station  crowds  packed  the  station. 
Hundreds  of  people  had  gained  access  to  the  train  shed,  and  they  gazed 
sorrowfully  at  the  casket  while  the  locomotives  were  being  shifted.  The 
train,  which  had  arrived  at  9:34  p.  m.,  pulled  out  for  the  West  a  few 
minutes  later. 

THE  TRACK  LINED  WITH  PEOPLE. 

Passing  out  of  the  station  at  Baltimore  the  track  was  lined  with 
people.  Laborers  and  handsomely  dressed  women  stood  side  by  side. 
Once  or  twice  a  quick  flare  from  a  photographer's  flashlight  exposed  the 
whole  train  to  view. 

At  Parkton,  just  before  the  Maryland  line  was  reached,  a  brief  stop 
was  made  to  attach  an  extra  engine  to  help  the  heavy  train  up  the  grade 
at  this  point.  Then  for  miles  the  train  ran  through  the  Dutch  settlements 
of  Pennsylvania.  It  was  after  10  o'clock,  but  many  Dunkards,  the  men 
uncovered,  the  women  in  their  quaint  bonnets,  were  at  the  track.  Others 
of  these  simple  folk  could  be  seen  in  the  open  doorways  of  their  lighted 
farm  houses.  The  Dunkards  usually  go  to  bed  early,  but  it  was  apparent 
that  most  of  them  had  remained  awake  to  get  a  last  look  at  this  mournful 
funeral  train.  The  lighted  death  chamber  in  the  rear  car  must  have  been 
an  impressive  spectacle ;  the  bier  in  full  view,  the  soldier  with  bayoneted 
gun  at  salute  and  the  jack  tar  with  drawn  cutlass  guarding  the  body. 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  231 

The  twinkling  of  the  light  from  that  car  was  probably  seen  for  miles 
through  the  darkness. 

York  was  reached  at  1 1 130  p.  m.  Ten  thousand  people  were  at  the 
station  and  along  the  track  leading  to  it.  The  bells  tolled  dolefully  as 
the  train  passed. 

The  train  slowed  up  but  did  not  stop  at  York,  where  the  entire  popu- 
lation seemed  to  have  waited  far  into  the  night  to  see  it  pass.  The  dolorous 
tolling  of  the  bells  could  be  heard  distinctly  by  those  on  board.  Soon 
after  leaving  York  all  had  retired  aboard  the  train  an<£  they  sped  along 
in  darkness.  It  was  raining  steadily,  but  neither  rain  nor  the  lateness 
of  the  hour  kept  the  mourning  people  from  being  at  the  track  to  pay  their 
final  tribute  of  honor  and  respect  to  their  departed  President. 

Harrisburg  was  not  reached  until  the  midnight  hour,  but  the  trowd 
was  enormous  and  the  scene  impressive.  The  train  stopped  several  min- 
utes while  the  crews  and  engines  were  changed  and  the  multitude  had  an 
excellent  opportunity  to  see  the  guarded  casket,  revealed  as  by  a  flood  of 
day  in  the  brilliantly  lighted  car. 

The  train  reached  Altoona  at  5 140  o'clock  on  Wednesday  morning. 
Nearly  10,000  persons  were  assembled  at  the  station  to  see  the  train  go 
through.  The  Altoona  city  band  rendered  "Nearer,  My  God,  to  Thee" 
and  "Onward,  Christian  Soldiers"  while  the  train  was  in  the  station  yard. 
Police  and  railroad  officials  kept  the  station  clear  of  people. 

The  train  left  after  a  change  of  engines  and  crews.  The  two  engines 
which  hauled  the  heavy  train  over  the  Alleghany  mountains  were  draped 
in  black. 

From  early  dawn,  when  the  first  rays  of  the  sun  came  shimmering 
through  the  Alleghany  mists,  the  country  through  which  the  McKinley 
funeral  train  passed  seemed  alive  with  waiting  people.  As  the  train  was 
later  than  its  schedule  the  probabilities  were  that  many  thousands  lined 
up  along  the  track  had  been  waiting  for  almost  an  hour  for  the  fleeting 
glimpse  of  the  cars  accompanying  the  murdered  President's  body  to  its 
last  resting  place. 

MEN  WITH  THEIR  DINNER  PAILS. 

Steel  workers,  with  their  dinner  pails  in  their  hands,  ran  the  risk  of 
being  late  at  the  mills  in  order  to  pay  their  last  homage  to  the  dead. 
It  was  at  the  steel  towns,  just  east  of  Pittsburg,  that  the  largest  early 
crowds  lined  the  tracks. 

Between  and  east  of  the  mill  towns  was  the  open  mountain  country 
interspersed  with  an  occasional  cluster  of  houses  near  coal  mines  or  oil 


232  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

wells.  Even  in  the  open  country  as  early  as  6  a.  m.  there  were  people 
gathered  at  the  crossroads  or  leaning  against  farm  fences. 

Faces  were  seen  peering  through,  up  and  down  windows  of  houses 
situated  near  the  tracks.  In  railroad  yards  hundreds  were  crowded  on  top 
of  cars  so  as  to  obtain  a  view  as  the  sections  of  the  Presidential  train 
picked  their  way  through  the  maze  of  tracks.  Women  and  girls  as  well 
as  men  and  boys  were  eager  to  see  the  cars  go  by. 

In  the  railroad  cars  in  Pitcairn,  a  few  miles  east  of  Pittsburg,  hun- 
dreds of  factory  girls  were  lined  up.  It  was  8:35  a.  m.  when  the  train 
passed  through  Pitcairn,  so  most  of  the  girls  with  lunch  boxes  under  their 
arms  must  have  been  quite  late  to  work,  all  for  the  sake  of  the  few  sec- 
onds' look  at  the  train  which  brought  so  close  to  them  the  victim  of  the 
anarchist's  bullet,  and  his  successor,  President  Roosevelt. 

Young  women  who  were  not  shop  girls  were  there,  too,  evidently 
having  come  from  the  most  exclusive  residence  districts  of  the  little  city, 
trudging  through  the  rough  tracks  to  obtain  a  brief  look. 

Away  from  the  crowds  at  the  towns  solitary  watchers  were  passed. 
Engineers  and  firemen  of  passing  trains  leaned  far  out  of  their  cab  win- 
dows when  the  train  approached.  Boys  and  girls,  perched  high  on  rocky 
crags,  remained  in  their  points  of  vantage  to  see  the  train  fly  past. 

As  the  train  neared  Pittsburg  it  passed  between  a  continuous  line  of 
men  and  women,  boys  and  girls,  miles  long. 

Immense  crowds  lined  the  tracks  for  a  long  distance  above  and  below 
the  station  at  Johnstown,  and  stood  in  silence  as  the  train  proceeded  slowly 
by.  A  detachment  of  company  H,  Fifth  Regiment,  N.  G.  P.,  fired  minute 
guns  and  bells  were  tolled  throughout  the  city. 

THE  TRAIN  ENTERS  THE  STATE  OF  OHIO. 

The  funeral  train  entered  Ohio  shortly  after  10  o'clock.  The  State 
line  was  also  the  border  of  the  congressional  district  which  Major  Mc- 
Kinley  represented  in  the  national  legislature  for  so  many  years. 

Men  and  women  who  had  known  the  President  personally,  who  had 
shaken  his  hand  and  gazed  into  his  genial  face,  lined  the  tracks  to  do 
honor  to  all  that  remained  on  earth  of  their  neighbor,  friend  and  chief. 
From  the  State  line  to  Canton,  the  President's  home,  the  line  of  mourners 
was  almost  continuous.  Although  a  stirring  depth  of  feeling  had  been 
manifested  as  the  train  passed  through  other  states  of  the  Union  with  its 
burden,  nowhere  was  poignant  grief  so  evident  as  it  was  during  the  sad 
journey  through  the  President's  home  State. 

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WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  237 

homage  to  the  ashes  of  one  of  its  sons,  elevated  to  the  Presidency  and 
then  stricken  by  an  assassin's  bullet  in  the  prime  of  his  career. 

The  mustering  of  popular  sentiment  was  awe-inspiring,  both  because 
of  the  numerical  strength  of  the  mourners  and  the  intensity  of  feeling 
shown.  In  every  sense  was  the  trip  of  the  President's  body  to  its  last 
resting  place  memorable.  Miles  upon  miles  of  humanity  were  passed, 
thousands  upon  thousands  of  heads  were  bared.  Hundreds  upon  hun-  • 
dreds  of  crape-tied  flags  were  displayed,  while,  in  the  distance,  the  emblem 
of  the  nation  was  seen  at  half-mast  upon  the  schoolhouse  or  other  public 
building. 

ARRIVAL  OF  THE  BODY  AT  CANTON. 

The  funeral  train  proper,  bearing  the  body  of  President  McKinley, 
arrived  at  12  o'clock.  It  was  met  by  Judge  Day,  at  the  head  of  the  local 
reception  committee,  while  assembled  about  the  station  was  the  entire 
militia  of  the  State. 

Mrs.  McKinley,  weeping  piteously,  was  helped  from  the  train  by 
Dr.  Rixey  and  Abner  McKinley  and  conducted  to  a  carriage  which  was 
in  waiting  and  was  then  driven  rapidly  to  her  home.  The  near  relatives 
followed  her. 

The  body  was  then  lifted  from  the  catafalque  car  and  carried  on  the 
shoulders  of  the  bodybearers  through  a  pathway  formed  by  President 
Roosevelt  and  his  Cabinet  to  the  waiting  hearse.  The  surrounding  sol- 
diers were  at  present  arms  and  bugles  sounded  taps. 

The  President  and  Cabinet  then  entered  carriages.  They  were  fol- 
lowed by  the  guard  of  honor,  headed  by  Admiral  Dewey  and  Lieutenant 
General  Miles  in  full  uniform,  and  the  sad  procession  then  moved  up 
Tenth  Street  in  the  direction  of  the  courthouse,  where  the  body  was  to  lie 
in  state.  Soldiers  at  intervals  all  the  way  kept  back  the  immense  crowds 
which  thronged  the  streets.  The  procession  passed  all  the  way  beneath 
big  arches  draped  with  black. 

Fully  two  hours  before  the  time  scheduled  for  the  arrival  of  the 
train  the  crowd  began  to  gather  at  the  Tenth  Street  station  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania Road  to  await  its  coming.  A  large  force  of  deputy  marshals 
was  sworn  in  last  night  to  assist  the  Canton  police  in  controlling  the 
crowd  and,  although  the  people  had  no  intention  of  creating  trouble,  the 
size  of  the  crowd  made  its  control  a  matter  of  some  difficulty  for  the 
amateur  guardians  of  the  peace.  Time  and  again  the  crowd  by  sheer 
weight  of  numbers  pressed  forward  beyond  the  limit  set  for  them  by 
the  police,  only  to  be  pnshed  back  as  often  as  they  pressed  forward. 

It  was  not  until  the  militia  and  Troop  A  of  Cleveland  came  upon  the 


33»  WILLIAM    Me  KIN  LEY. 

acene  that  the  crowd  was  held  back,  and  even  then  it  was  restrained  entirely 
by  the  fact  that  is  was  physically  impossible  for  a  large  detachment  of 
cavalry  and  a  larger  crowd  of  civilians  to  crowd  into  one  space  too  small 
for  the  latter  alone.  The  crowd  was  finally  compelled  to  spread  backward 
and  line  itself  along  the  route  marked  out  for  the  march  from  the  depot 
to  the  courthouse. 

In  all  the  little  city  which  the  dead  President  loved  there  was  hardly 
a  structure  that  bore  no  badge  of  sorrow.  In  Tuscarawas  Street,  from 
one  end  to  the  other,  business  houses  were  hung  heavy  with  crape  and 
at  intervals  huge  arches,  draped  and  festooned  in  mourning  colors, 
spanned  the  route  of  the  procession  from  the  train  to  the  county  court- 
house. 

PRESIDENT'S  CHURCH  IN  MOURNING. 

One  of  the  arches  was  in  front  of  the  Canton  high  school,  half  a 
block  from  McKinley  Avenue.  The  school  was  draped  and  in  every 
window  was  a  black-bordered  portrait  of  the  late  President.  In  this 
thoroughfare,  too,  were  two  large  churches,  one  of  which  was  regularly 
attended  by  Major  McKinley,  the  First  Methodist  Episcopal,  at  Cleveland 
Avenue,  a  block  from  the  courthouse.  At  each  corner  of  the  edifice  and 
above  the  big  cathedral  windows  were  broad  draperies  deftly  looped,  each 
bearing  a  large  white  rosette.  The  other  church,  the  First  Presbyterian, 
was  similarly  adorned. 

The  courthouse,  the  scene  of  the  lying  in  state,  was  a  mass  of  sable 
hue.  At  the  entrance,  between  the  two  big  doors,  was  a  tablet  wrought 
in  crape  and  upon  the  cloth  shield  was  emblazoned  in  white  the  utterance 
of  the  President  when  told  that  he  must  die. 

"It  is  God's  way.    His  will,  not  ours,  be  done." 

In  front  of  the  courthouse  was  another  massive  arch. 

Canton  was  astir  with  break  of  day,  such  residents  as  had  not  dis- 
played badges  and  draperies  of  mourning  performing  that  task  that 
morning.  At  Nemicella  Park  the  soldiers  of  Troop  A  of  Cleveland  and 
the  militia  of  various  parts  of  the  state  were  busy  preparing  to  escort  the 
distinguished  dead  up  Tuscarawas  Street. 

COURTHOUSE  READY  FOR  THE  BODY. 

Before  8  o'clock  the  rotunda  of  the  courthouse  had  been  prepared 
for  the  reception  of  the  body.  With  the  exception  of  dainty  white  stream- 
ers from  the  chandeliers  there  was  no  trace  of  white  in  the  large  apart- 
ment wherein  the  public  had  a  last  look  upon  the  face  of  the  departed 
Executive.  The  walls  and  ceilings  were  covered  with  black  cloth  looped 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  *39 

here  and  there  from  the  ornamental  pillars  with  streamers  and  rosettes 
of  the  same  color.  From  each  chandelier  was  suspended  a  small  Ameri- 
can flag,  a  larger  one  fluttering  just  above  the  catafalque. 

Three  hours  before  the  funeral  train  was  scheduled  to  arrive  more 
than  5,000  men  and  women  had  gathered  at  Courthouse  Square  and 
hundreds  of  others  had  congregated  in  the  vicinity  of  the  railway  depot, 
each  anxious  to  be  as  near  the  casket  as  possible  when  it  was  taken  from 
the  car  Pacific. 

At  the  McKinley  home  itself,  almost  the  only  resilience  in  Canton 
that  bore  no  trace  of  mourning,  was  another  throng  and  there  was  not 
a  door  or  window  that  had  not  been  peered  at  most  assiduously  by  curious 
visitors  and  equally  curious  residents  of  the  city. 

The  body  lay  in  state  until  evening,  when  it  was  transferred  to  the 
home  on  Market  street,  where  it  remained  during  the  night.  The  next 
day  it  was  removed  to  the  First  Methodist  Church,  where  the  final  funeral 
services  were  performed. 

President  Roosevelt,  the  members  of  his  Cabinet  and  distinguished 
guests  were  in  attendance  upon  the  ceremonies,  which  were  very  brief, 
lasting  less  than  an  hour.  The  Rev.  E.  C.  Manchester,  pastor  of  the 
church,  delivered  a  short  sermon,  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Milligan,  pastor  of 
the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  made  a  short  prayer  and  read  from  the 
Scriptures. 

"Lead,  Kindly  Light,"  was  then  rendered  by  a  quartette,  the  benedic- 
tion was  pronounced  and  the  remains  were  then  conveyed  to  the  Wood- 
lawn  Cemetery,  where  they  were  temporarily  placed  in  a  vault.  The 
President  and  his  Cabinet  accompanied  the  body  to  the  cemetery. 

MRS.  MCKINLEY  LEAVES  THE  WHITE  HOUSE  FOREVER. 

On  the  evening  of  September  i/th  Mrs.  McKinley  left  the  White 
House  for  the  last  time.  She  said  she  would  never  set  foot  in  it  again. 

It  was  exactly  seventy-three  days  before  that,  tenderly  leaning  on 
the  arrp  of  her  husband,  she  departed  for  her  home  in  Canton,  where  it 
was  hoped  that  the  familiar  associations  and  the  happy  memories  con- 
nected with  her  home  would  aid  in  restoring  her  health.  She  had  then 
just  risen  from  a  bed  of  almost  mortal  sickness. 

The  afternoon  of  her  last  day  in  the  Executive  Mansion,  just  as 
the  sun  was  setting,  she  knelt  beside  the  couch  where  she  spent  so  many 
hours  of  pain  and  in  a  broken  voice  cried  to  her  devoted  niece,  Mary 
Barber,  that  she  would  to  God  she  had  never  risen  from  that  bed  of 
pain. 

She  wept  silently  for  some  time  with  her  head  buried,  and  then 


240  WILLIAM    McKINLEY, 

gently  acquiesced  in  their  remonstrances  and  took  the  nourishment  pro- 
vided for  her.  She  immediately  surrendered  herself  to  her  nurses  and 
remained  quiet  until  it  was  time  to  depart  upon  the  last  stage  of  her  hus- 
band's funeral  journey. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Abner  McKinley,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Hermanus  Baer,  Mrs. 
Duncan  and  the  Misses  Duncan,  Miss  Helen  McKinley,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Barber  and  Miss  Mary  and  Miss  Ida  Barber,  who  had  been  in  the  White 
House  since  the  night  previous,  assembled  in  the  main  lobby  and  entered 
the  closed  carriages  prepared  for  the  departure  for  the  depot. 

With  Mrs.  McKinley  was  Dr.  Rixey  and  also  Miss  Mary  Barber,  who 
had  been  her  mainstay  not  only  in  that  crisis,  but  in  many  other  illnesses 
and  troubles.  This  young  girl  was  Mrs.  McKinley's  chief  dependence, 
and  during  her  aunt's  bereavement  had  lived  and  slept  by  her  side,  an 
example  of  devotion  and  self-sacrifice  rarely  seen  in  one  not  yet  20 
years  of  age.  The  President  was  very  fond  of  Miss  Barber,  and  after 
Mrs.  McKinley's  illness  in  the  spring,  when  she  had  attended  her  aunt 
with  such  solicitude,  he  presented  her  with  a  handsome  diamond  ring 
and  a  locket  containing  miniatures  of  Mrs.  McKinley  and  himself. 

Mrs.  McKinley  spent  the  entire  day  in  her  bedroom.  It  was  decided 
early  in  the  morning  that  it  would  be  best  for  her  not  to  be  present  at  the 
state  obsequies  at  the  Capitol.  The  night  before,  as  soon  as  the  Presi- 
dent's bier  was  established  in  the  East  Room,  she  begged  piteously  for 
permission  to  tell  her  dear  husband  good  night.  Dr.  Rixey  immediately 
made  arrangements  that  the  East  Room  should  be  cleared  even  of  the 
military  and  marine  guard  of  honor. 

Mrs.  McKinley  was  led  to  the  casket,  and  spent  a  half-hour  sitting 
quietly  beside  her  martyred  husband.  She  then  went  to  her  room  and 
slept  quietly  until  dawn  was  breaking,  when  she  awakened  Dr.  Rixey 
and  again  asked  to  go  to  the  East  Room.  This  request  was  complied  with 
in  the  same  manner.  After  the  remains  of  the  President  were  taken  in 
state  to  the  rotunda  of  the  Capitol  she  retired  to  her  room,  and  spent 
the  entire  day  with  her  sister  and  nieces,  Mrs.  Barber  and  her  daughters. 

Several  times  throughout  the  day  she  alluded  to  her  happy  life  in 
Washington  and  seemed  to  dwell  with  particular  pathos  on  the  first  day 
of  her  arrival  in  the  White  House. 

Upon  her  arrival  at  Canton  Mrs.  McKinley  was  driven  directly  to 
her  residence.  She  was  present  at  the  concluding  ceremonies  at  the 
church,  and  bore  up  remarkably  well.  - 

At  2:30  o'clock  the  remains  were  carried  from  the  church  to  the 
hearse  which  was  in  waiting  to  bear  it  to  the  cemetery,  and  at  that 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  241 

moment,  and  during  the  ensuing  five  minutes,  the  heart  of  the  United 
States  ceased  to  beat.  All  work  was  stopped  throughout  the  country,  and 
every  man  stood  with  head  uncovered.  At  that  hour  the  funeral  proces- 
sions which  were  moving  in  every  city,  town  and  village  in  the  nation, 
stopped  and  remained  motionless  for  five  minutes. 

Never  before,  in  the  history  of  the  world,  was  such  a  tribute  paid  to 
mortal  man. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

PRESIDENT  McKiNLEY  AND  His  FARM — A  PROFITABLE  INVESTMENT — 
MAKING  APPLE  BUTTER — MCKINLEY'S  DEXTERITY  IN  SHAKING 
HANDS — RECEPTIONS  AT  THE  WHITE  HOUSE  BY  MRS.  McKiNLEY — 
HER  FOUR  THOUSAND  PAIRS  OF  SLIPPERS — PROTECTING  THE  PER- 
SONS OF  PRESIDENTS. 


On  of  President  McKinley's  friends  went  down  to  see  the  Chief 
Magistrate's  farm  one  day  and  wrote  the  following  description.  It  was 
evident  that  the  President  knew  something  about  farming  as  well  as 
politics : 

"President  McKinley  owns  a  farm.  A  great  deal  has  been  written 
about  Mr.  Bryan's  farm,  but  heretofore  no  description  has  been  written 
of  Mr.  McKinley's  broad  expanse  of  corn  fields,  meadows,  cow  pastures 
and  orchards,  which  comprise  one  hundred  and  sixty-two  and  one-quarter 
acres.  !His  well-kept  barns,  corn  cribs  and  wagon  sheds  show  care  and 
thrift.  The  wool  on  the  backs  of  two  hundred  sheep  shines  with  cleanli- 
ness, for  McKinley's  farm  is  a  model  one  and  a  modern  one.  Unlike 
the  famous  Nebraska  farm  of  the  Democratic  candidate  for  President, 
the  public  knows  little  about  it.  Two  miles  from  Minerva,  one  mile 
from  Bayard,  Ohio,  it  stands  on  a  sloping  parcel  of  ground  surmounted 
by  the  orchards  of  Baldwin  apples.  The  Cleveland  &  Pittsburg  Railroad 
crosses  a  corner  of  the  farm  and  the  Big  Sandy  Canal  courses  through 
the  field  at  one  side  of  the  main  road. 

"Along  a  lane  to  a  point  two-thirds  of  the  way  up  the  slope  brings 
the  visitor  into  the  midst  of  the  farm  buildings.  To  the  right,  the  first 
one  is  the  sheep  bam.  This  two-story  structure  was  originally  the 
Union  Church,  attended  by  the  folks  of  that  rural  vicinity  who  wor- 
shiped on  the  Sabbath.  Twenty-five  years  ago,  when  it  ceased  to  be 
used  for  church  purposes,  it  was  moved  from  the  corner  of  the  farm 
next  the  main  road  to  its  present  site.  When  it  stood  on  the  corner  it 
was  just  in  front  of  the  old  cemetery  known  as  the  Plain's  Cemetery, 
which  is  still  there. 

"McKinley's  farm  is  a  profitable  one.  In  any  season  when  crops  are 
good  it  yields  richly.  This  year's  potato  crop  will  probably  aggregate 
two  thousand  bushels.  The  corn  fields  have  been  known  to  produce  as 

242 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  343 

high  as  3,500  bushels  in  a  single  year.  Last  year  the  meadows  produced 
one  hundred  tons  of  hay.  The  oats  crop  this  year  aggregates  some 
seven  hundred  bushels. 

THE  MAKING  OP  APPLE  BUTTER. 

"This  is  apple  butter  making  time  in  this  section  of  the  country. 
Many  of  the  apples  on  McKinley's  farm,  just  at  the  present  time,  are 
being  made  into  apple  butter.  The  large  orchard  is  an  important  part  of 
McKinley's  farm.  One  good  year  1,700  bushels  of  Baldwins  were  gath- 
ered and  as  many  more  of  other  kinds,  making  a  total  yield  of  nearly 
3,500  bushels.  Part  of  the  produce  of  the  farm  has  been  shipped  to 
Canton  from  time  to  time  to  the  McKinley  home,  but  none  has  ever 
been  sent  to  Washington.  Canton  is  about  twenty  miles  from  the  farm. 

"Selling  milk  is  one  of  the  industries  of  the  farm.  There  are  twenty- 
five  head  of  cattle.  There  are  nine  milch  cows.  Some  of  them  are 
blooded  stock.  Raising  calves  is  also  an  occupation.  Ten  fine  horses 
are  constantly  employed.  These  are  all  draft  horses.  Two  hundred 
sheep  graze  on  the  hillside.  One  season  one  hundred  and  seventy-five 
sheep  were  sold  from  this  place.  This  shows  what  a  good  market  there  it 
for  the  wool  and  mutton  which  comes  from  the  President's  farm.  While 
speaking  of  animals,  the  two  dogs  must  not  be  forgotten.  One  known 
as  'Shep'  has  been  on  the  place  ever  since  the  President  came  into  pos- 
session of  it.  The  other,  which  by  the  way  is  a  yellow  one,  came  there 
as  a  stray  not  long  ago  and  has  found  a  good  home.  The  chickens 
number  more  than  two  hundred.  The  pea  fowls  became  too  noisy  and 
were  so  inclined  to  pick  a  fuss  with  the  chickens  that  it  was  thought 
best  to  dispose  of  them,  so  they  were  given  away. 

"The  man  who  has  charge  of  Mr.  McKinley's  farm  is  W.  J.  Adams, 
formerly  of  Canton,  but  who  was  reared  in  Pennsylvania.  He  is  a  farmer 
who  understands  his  business,  and  it  is  said,  in  the  vicinity,  that  there  is 
not  a  more  prosperous  farm  in  all  that  section.  Mr.  Adams'  family 
consists  of  Mrs.  Adams,  two  boys  and  two  girls.  One  hired  man  is 
kept  the  year  around,  and  two  are  employed  during  the  busy  season 
of  the  year.  Mr.  Adams  works  the  farm  on  shares.  He  has  a  half 
interest  in  everything.  The  fences  are  all  kept  up,  and  there  is  an  appear- 
ance of  neatness  which  marks  his  work.  Mr.  Adams  has  lived  on  this 
place  for  the  past  twenty  years,  and  Mr.  McKinley  is  delighted  with  him. 

THE  RESIDENCE  ON  THE  FARM. 

"The  residence  is  a  two-story  structure  built  sixty  years  ago  by 
a  man  named  Hostetter,  who,  by  the  way,  was  interested  in  the  Big 


244  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

Sandy  Canal,  and  had  it  succeeded  he  would  have  finished  the  house.  But 
the  railroad  came  through,  and  the  first  boat  that  was  sent  down  the 
canal  got  caught  in  the  tunnel,  not  very  far  distant,  and  it  was  impossible 
to  get  it  out.  This  was  the  only  boat  which  every  made  a  trip  on  the 
Big  Sandy  Canal.  Mr.  Hostetter  was  never  able  to  finish  the  house,  so 
to  this  day  a  number  of  the  rooms  have  not  been  plastered.  This  resi- 
dence is  now  getting  quite  old  in  appearance.  It  shelters  eleven  rooms. 
The  porch  is  about  the  size  of  McKinley's  famous  front  porch  at  Canton, 
and  then  on  to  the  upright  part  there  is  a  wing  which  is  a  story  and  a  half 
in  height.  The  lawn  is  well  kept,  and  morning-glories  grow  upon  the 
fences  at  one  side. 

"Besides  the  house,  there  are  six  buildings  on  the  farm.  There  is 
the  main  barn,  the  sheep  barn,  the  two  large  wagon  sheds,  the  scale  house 
and  the  pig  pen.  One  of  the  sheds  shelters  an  immense  wagon  which  one 
time  made  a  notable  trip.  It  was  after  the  election  of  McKinley  to  the 
Presidency.  Six  teams  of  horses  were  hitched  to  the  vehicle  and  the 
farmers  round  about  gathered  to  the  number  of  forty  and  drove  to  Mr. 
McKinley's  Canton  home,  to  join  in  congratulating  him.  The  trip  was 
made  in  about  three  hours." 

McKiNLEY  A  DEXTEROUS  HANDSHAKER. 

The  late  President  was  a  past  master  in  the  art  of  shaking  hands. 
A  man  who  stood  and  watched  him  for  a  time  thus  describes  the  manner 
in  which  the  Chief  Executive  "shook"  people  and  pleased  them  mightily 
in  consequence : 

"There  is  something  grimly  humorous  in  watching  a  man  shake 
hands  with  a  multitude  at  the  rate  of  fifty  a  minute.  Up  and  down  the 
arm  and  hand  go,  like  a  pump  handle  or  the  rhythmic  beat  of  a  piston. 
I  watched  the  President  at  Memorial  Hall  last  Tuesday  afternoon  when 
he  greeted  5,000  citizens,  and  I  confess  I  was  amazed.  My  first  feeling 
was  one  of  amusement.  To  hear  the  President  mumble  constantly, 
'Glad  to  see  you.'  'Pleased  to  see  you,'  in  the  same  monotone,  to  watch 
the  shake,  the  mechanical  motion  of  the  arm,  the  sudden  jerk  with  which 
he  half  pulled — yanked  it  was,  truly — the  person  just  greeted,  and  the 
astonished,  semi-stupefied  look  on  the  shaked  one's  face — all  this  and 
more  was  inimitably  funny. 

"But  soon  the  feeling  of  amusement  gave  way  to  one  of  wonder, 
and  then  of  compassion  that  a  Chief  Executive  should  have  to  submit  to 
such  an  ordeal,  and  finally  to  unbounded  admiration  and  amazement  at 
the  extraordinary  vitality  shown  by  the  President. 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  245 

"The  McKinley  grip  deserves  special  description;  it  is  unique  in 
its  line.  It  allures  the  caller,  holds  him  an  instant  and  then  quietly  and 
deliberately  'shakes'  him.  Mr.  McKinley  is  not  a  tall  man  by  any  means ; 
indeed  he  is,  if  anything,  considerably  below  what  I  should  consider  the 
medium  height — five  feet  ten.  Consequently  his  'shake'  is  considerably 
lower  than  a  handshake  you  get  from  the  average-sized  man.  The  hand 
goes  out  straight  for  you,  there  is  a  good  warm  pressure  of  the  palm, 
a  quick  drop,  a  jerk  forward  and  the  thing  is  over.  There  is  something 
besides  the  extended  outstretched  palm  to  allure  you,  and  that  is  Mr. 
McKinley's  beaming  countenance. 

NEVER  CEASES  TO  SMILE. 

"When  greeting  the  public  he  never  ceases  to  smile.  It  is  not  a 
forced  smile ;  it  invites  you  forward  and  compels  your  own  smile  in  spite 
of  yourself.  It  is  so  genuinely  honest,  too,  that  one  can  not  but  conclude 
that,  onerous  as  these  receptions  must  be  to  the  President's  physique,  he 
nevertheless  enjoys  them  thoroughly.  Long  before  the  reception  was 
over  the  President  showed  unmistakable  signs  of  fatigue,  his  jaw  began 
to  droop  and  blackish  rings  formed  under  his  eyes,  but  the  smile — 
beaming,  inviting — remained,  and  it  lasted  as  long  as  there  was  one 
citizen  to  greet. 

"Such  occasions  are  the  best  in  which  to  study  the  real  traits  of  a 
man.  If  there  is  anything  better  qualified  to  produce  irritability  than  a 
public  reception  with  a  lightning  handshaking  on  the  side,  I  do  not 
think  it  has  been  discovered.  I  am  frank  to  confess  that  Mr.  McKinley 
showed  traits  during  that  ordeal  that  were  both  admirable  and  lovable. 
He  was  particularly  kind  to  the  veterans.  His  heart  went  with  his  hand 
to  them.  Several  of  them,  dazed  and  bewildered,  no  doubt,  would  have 
passed  him  unheeded  by  in  their  excitement. 

"His  arm  halted  them,  his  hand  sought  theirs,  and  he  never  failed 
to  say  'comrade'  to  them.  To  the  ladies  he  was  gracious,  especially  so 
to  the  feeble,  older  ones,  and  to  the  tots,  the  toddlers  and  the  growing 
young  Americans  he  was  like  a  father.  I  saw  him  dtetain  a  mother  who 
was  carrying  a  tiny  mite  on  her  arm.  Mr.  McKinley  fussed  with  the 
muslins  and  the  woolens  of  the  mite  until  he  found  its  chubby  little 
hand,  which  he  pressed  tenderly.  That  mother  did  not  say  a  word,  but 
tears  of  joy  glistened  in  her  eyes  as  she  passed  beyond. 

"I'll  venture  that  nobody  went  away  from  that  reception  feeling 
offended,  and  if  there  were  any  means  of  knowing  I  am  equally  certain 
that  the  President's  handshake  made  more  than  one  vote  for  him.  Mc- 
Kinley's grip  is  a  manly  grip;  it  is  a  handshake  given  with  genuine 


246  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

pleasure.    It  is  the  grip  of  a  man  of  flesh  and  blood  and  of  a  sympathetic 
soul." 

MRS.  McKiNLEy's  4,000  PAIRS  OF  SLIPPERS. 

During  all  of  her  last  Western  trip  Mrs.  McKinley  was  busy  with 
her  ever-present  fancy  work,  her  crocheted  slippers,  and  even  while  she 
talked  or  turned  to  bow  from  her  car  to  the  assembled  crowd  she  would 
occasionally  toy  with  the  wool  or  take  a  random  stitch. 

When  asked  about  her  slippers  and  if  she  did  not  tire  of  the  work 
she  said: 

"Why,  what  am  I  to  do !  I  must  be  doing  something.  I  can't  bear 
to  be  idle,  and  this  is  pleasant  work  which  I  enjoy.  Would  you  believe 
it?  I  have  kept  count,  and  I  find  that  I  have  made  no  less  than  4,000 
pairs  of  slippers.  At  one  time  my  bill  for  soles  was  very  large,  but 
they  don't  cost  me  anything,  since  the  Vice  President  is  in  the  shoe 
business ;  he  supplies  me  with  soles  for  nothing.  I  keep  him  in  bedroom 
slippers,  and  as  he  is  now  sick  they  come  in  nicely  for  him.  I  have  no 
difficulty  in  disposing  of  all  the  slippers  I  can  make.  I  give  them  to 
hospitals  and  other  charities." 

ONE  OF  MRS.  MCKINLEY'S  RECEPTIONS. 

A  guest  at  one  of  Mrs.  McKinley's  receptions  at  the  White  House 
had  this  to  say  of  it: 

"It  is  a  rare  pleasure  to  meet  the  first  lady  of  our  land  at  one  of  her 
charming  afternoon  receptions  for  which  engraved  invitations  are  issued. 
To  non-residents  of  the  capital  it  is  a  good  opportunity  to  see  the  private 
apartments  in  the  White  House.  After  passing  through  a  door  of  the 
handsome  stained  glass  screen  which  separates  the  main  entrance  from 
the  private  corridor  one  is  ushered  into  the  beautiful  Blue  Room  to  await 
their  turn  to  be  called  into  the  Red  Room  where  Mrs.  McKinley  receives 
her  guests.  There  are  often  a  great  number  seated  in  this  room  awaiting 
to  be  presented.  This  arrangement  has  been  made  for  Mrs.  McKinley's 
comfort,  as  she  prefers  to  have  a  limited  number  in  the  room  while 
receiving. 

"The  Blue  Room  into  which  guests  are  first  shown  is  one  of  the 
most  attractive  in  the  White  House ;  owing  to  the  color  of  the  furnish- 
ings, blue  and  gold,  the  effect  is  very  delicate.  The  clock  on  the  mantel 
is  of  historic  interest,  as  it  was  a  present  from  Napoleon  I  to  Lafayette, 
who  presented  it  to  this  country.  It  was  in  this  lovely  oval-shaped  room 
that  President  Cleveland  was  married. 

"A  visitor  is  still  much  interested  in  the  surroundings  when  the 
'master  of  ceremonies'  or  'usher,'  as  he  is  called  at  the  White  House 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  247 

takes  your  cards  and,  preceding  you,  announces  your  name  to  Mrs.  Mc- 
Kinley, who  always  receives  seated;  she  has  an  appropriate  remark  for 
all  her  callers,  and  in  conversation  she  becomes  quite  animated.     Her 
Plicate  beauty  is  fascinating ;  in  manner  she  is  very  gracious  and  charm- 
ig.    On  all  occasions  she  is  exquisitely  gowned  and  especially  when  she 
s  entertaining.     Her  fondness  for  jewels,  flowers  and  children  is  well 
known,  and  in  case  a  child  is  among  the  number  at  her  receptions  it  is 
sure  to  receive  especial  attention  and  many  caresses.    Her  hair,  although 
short  and  curly,  is  always  so  becomingly  arranged  that  it  cannot  possibly 
de'tract  from  her  appearance.    During  the  day  her  hair  is  usually  parted 
and  she  wears  handsome  sidecombs  and  for  an  evening  reception  her 
hair  is  beautifully  dressed  and  adorned  with  tips  and  jewels. 

HER  YOUNG  RELATIVES  ASSIST. 

"At  her  afternoon  receptions  some  of  her  young  relatives  assist  in 
entertaining.  On  this  particular  afternoon  little  Dorothy  Morse  from 
California  was  much  admired,  owing  to  her  cunning  baby  ways;  she 
quickly  showed  her  fancy  for  another  little  girl  by  giving  her  a  bunch 
of  roses  from  the  flowers  on  the  table ;  this  little  child  is  a  great  favorite 
with  the  President  and  his  wife,  and  with  her  mother  spent  a  month  at 
the  White  House.  She  participated  in  the  'egg  rolling'  at  the  'White 
Lot'  on  Easter  Monday,  and  her  appearance  was  hailed  with  delight  by 
the  other  children. 

"Usually  the  President  and  his  wife  may  be  seen  driving  together 
on  a  fine  Sunday  afternoon.  One  afternoon  a  group  of  little  boys  was 
sitting  along  the  curb  as  their  carriage  passed.  One  of  them  recognized 
the  occupants  and  shouted:  'Boys,  there  goes  Mrs.  McKinley!'  She 
bowed  and  smiled  to  each  of  them,  and  the  President  did  the  same. 

"The  White  House  carriages,  v/hile  very  handsome,  are  not  so  elab- 
orate as  to  attract  especial  attention  among  the  many  elegant  turnouts  in 
Washington. 

"The  young  ladies  of  the  Cabinet  are  often  entertained  by  the 
President's  wife  with  a  box  party.  When  Sousa's  successful  opera, 
'Bride-Elect,'  was  first  presented  here  at  the  handsome  Lafayette  Square 
Theater,  she  had  in  her  box  Mrs.  Morse,  of  San  Francisco;  Mrs.  For- 
aker  and  one  of  her  charming  nieces.  On  that  occasion  she  wore  a 
handsome  white  silk  en  traine  with  tiny  theater  bonnet.  During  most 
of  the  evening  her  handsome  opera  cape  rested  on  her  shoulders. 

"Those  who  have  not  recently  seen  Mrs.  McKinley  imagine  her 
much  more  of  an  invalid  than  is  now  true.  With  such  a  responsible 
position  more  strength  came  to  her  command  to  enable  her  to  fill  her 


248  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

many  social  obligations  so  capably.  In  walking-  she  uses  a  cane  to  slightly 
assist  her,  but  when  accompanied  by  a  gentleman  she  merely  rests  lightly 
on  his  arm. 

"At  an  evening  reception  at  the  Executive  Mansion  after  all  the 
guests  have  been  presented,  the  receiving  party  form  in  line  and  pass 
through  the  great  East  Room  and  corridor  to  their  private  apartments 
upstairs,  while  the  Marine  Band  in  the  conservatory  plays  an  inspiring 
march.  It  is  probably  at  this  time  that  we  realize  most  deeply  what 
a  charming  woman  is  the  present  mistress  of  the  White  House  as  in 
passing  she  bows  to  her  admiring  guests." 

THE  PRESIDENT  BELIEVED  IN  INSURANCE. 

President  McKinley  was  a  firm  believer  in  life  insurance,  having 
carried  policies  ever  since  his  young  manhood.  He  was  known  to  have 
had  at  least  $75,000  at  the  time  of  his  death.  His  largest  policy  was  one 
for  $50,000  and  was  written  in  1896.  The  agent  was  an  old  acquaintance 
of  Mr.  McKinley's,  and  took  the  matter  up  with  him  in  October  of  the 
campaign  year,  a  few  weeks  before  the  election.  Major  McKinley  said 
he  was  carrying  about  $25,000  and  knew  he  ought  to  have  more,  but  did 
not  want  to  take  more  than  he  could  carry  if  the  election  should  go  wrong.' 
He  finally  fixed  upon  a  $50,000  ordinary  life  policy,  the  annual  premium 
being  $2,795. 

After  his  election,  his  financial  affairs  being  easier,  he  changed  this  to 
a  fifteen -year  endowment,  maturing  in  1911,  when  he  would  have  been 
68  years  old.  The  annual  premium  on  this  policy  was  $4,125,  so  that  the 
President  had  paid  $16,500  on  it.  Another  premium  would  have  been 
due  the  month  following  his  death.  The  policy  will  pay  $50,000  with 
dividends  added. 

President  McKinley  took  out  a  tontine  policy  when  he  was  first  in 
Congress  and  matured  it  at  the  end  of  ten  years.  He  then  took  another 
policy  for  a  small  amount. 

In  addition  to  this  Mr.  McKinley  had  a  $5,000  policy,  taken  out  in 
1873  through  Joseph  S.  Saxton,  a  relative  of  his  wife.  About  fifteen 
years  later  he  took  out  another  policy  for  the  same  amount  in  the  same 
company.  He  also  carried  a  $5,000  policy  taken  out  over  twenty  years 
ago. 

A  number  of  attempts  were  made  to  write  the  President  after  his 
election,  but  he  declined  all  overtures,  fearing  that  an  advertisement 
would  be  made  of  it. 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  249 

PROTECTING  THE  PERSONS  OF  PRESIDENTS. 

In  discussing  the  assassination  of  President  McKinley,  Congress- 
man George  A.  Pearre  of  Maryland  said: 

"I  will  offer  a  bill  in  the  next  Congress  of  the  United  States  amend- 
ing the  constitution  so  as  to  make  an  unsuccessful  attempt  upon  the  life 
of  a  President  of  the  Nation  treason  and  the  penalty  death.  The  man 
who  strikes  at  the  Nation's  head  is  a  public  enemy,  and  should  be  treated 
as  such. 

"If  the  hope  and  prayer  of  the  Nation  is  fulfilled  and  President  Mc- 
Kinley lives,  the  question  of  adequate  punishment  of  the  villain  who 
attempted  his  life  arises.  The  would-be  assassin  only  can  be  prosecuted 
for  assault  with  intent  to  murder,  with  a  penalty  of  about  ten  years  in 
the  penitentiary." 

Major  Richard  Sylvester,  as  President  of  the  National  Association 
of  the  Chiefs  of  Police  of  the  United  States  and  Canada,  took  a  decisive 
step  just  after  President  McKinley 's  death  looking  to  the  adoption  of  a 
uniform  policy  throughout  the  world  in  dealing  with  anarchists,  by 
addressing  a  letter  to  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Association  and 
requesting  their  co-operation  in  bringing  the  various  heads  of  the  police 
departments  of  the  world  together  in  convention.  The  communication 
reads  as  follows: 

"The  National  Association  of  Chiefs  of  Police  of  the  United  States 
and  Canada,  at  the  last  annual  meeting,  adopted  a  resolution  inviting 
the  heads  of  foreign  police  departments  to  participate  in  our  annual 
discussions.  The  distressing  calamity  which  this  country  has  recently 
experienced,  through  the  assault  by  an  unknown  assassin,  confirms  the 
belief  that  the  import  of  the  resolution  should  be  impressed  on  foreign 
officials,  with  a  view  of  having  such  of  their  number  present  at  our  next 
annual  meeting  as  may  be  able  to  attend;  this  with  the  hope  that  a  closer 
relationship  may  be  established  officially  and  personally,  and  that  there 
may  be  an  interchange  of  opinion  as  to  the  best  methods  to  be  pursued 
to  eliminate  from  society  such  organizations  a»d  persons  as  may  be 
evilly  disposed  toward  institutions  of  government  and  those  charged 
with  their  conduct. 

FROM  A  POLICE  STANDPOINT. 

"This  is  a  most  vital  question,  and  if  the  laws  are  inadequate  to 
crush  such  organizations  and  punish  such  characters,  there  should  be 
recommendations  from  a  police  standpoint  which  would  forever  prevent 
the  like  in  this  country  and  aid  the  authorities  abroad. 

"I  trust  the  members  will  give  this  matter  close  and  careful  consid- 


250  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

eration,  and  offer  such  suggestions  as  may  aid  in  accomplishing  the 
desired  end,  and  that  the  Secretary  will  be  authorized  to  adopt  such 
measures  as,  will  bring  about  a  thorough  understanding  with  our  foreign 
friends,  and  to  secure  their  presence  and  co-operation. 

"In  the  meantime,  there  should  be  active  efforts  made  looking  to  the 
eradication  of  these  evils  and  information  gathered  and  disseminated 
through  the  National  Bureau  of  Criminal  Identification  with  a  view  of 
accomplishing  such  result." 

This  proposition  will  be  acted  upon  by  the  directors  individually  by 
mail.  If  the  Board  of  Directors  vote  to  adopt  their  executive's  views  the 
secretary  of  the  Association  will  be  authorized  to  address  a  letter  to  the 
officials  having  charge  of  the  police  affairs  of  the  European  nations 
requesting  their  attendance  at  the  convention  next  year,  when  it  is 
expected  some  definite  steps  will  be  taken  to  effectually  stamp  out  or 
destroy  the  danger  arising  from  anarchistic  plots." 

LAWS  MUST  BE  CHANGED. 

Colonel  Myron  T.  Herrick,  one  of  the  martyr  President's  most  inti- 
mate friends,  in  referring  to  the  assassin  and  the  anarchists,  said : 

"In  view  of  the  general  feeling  aroused  among  the  people  of  the 
country  against  anarchists  as  a  result  of  the  shooting  of  President  Mc- 
Kinley  it  seems  to  me  that  the  time  is  most  opportune  to  demand  a  change 
in  the  laws  so  that  any  attempt  on  the  life  of  the  Chief  Executive  may 
be  punished  by  death.  There  is  a  strong  sentiment  in  favor  of  Congress 
taking  action  during  the  coming  session  in  reference  to  the  matter. 

"Once  in  four  years  the  people  of  this  country  elect  a  President, 
and  he  immediately  becomes  a  target  for  every  cheap  crank  looking  for 
notoriety  in  the  country. 

"In  my  opinion,  every  anarchist  in  the  United  States  should  be  hunted 
down  like  a  mad  dog  and  confined  just  as  are  lunatics  or  other  dangerous 
persons." 

THREATENING  LETTERS  TO  THE  PRESIDENTS. 

For  years  previous  to  the  murder  of  President  McKinley  threaten- 
ing letters  had  been  coming  at  the  White  House  under  all  administra- 
tions, the  number  varying  with  the  state  of  public  feeling  and  the  issues 
before  the  country.  It  was  said  that  fewer  had  come  within  the  last 
year  of  President  McKinley's  life  than  ever  before,  so  great  had  been 
the  affection  of  the  people  for  him.  All  these  letters  were  promptly  sent 
to  the  Secret  Service  Bureau  where  they  were  formally  investigated. 
The  records  do  not  show  that  there  was  much  in  them,  although  the 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  251 

old  files  were  run  over  to  see  if  any  evidence  could  be  found  among  them 
of  a  plot 

These  letters  were  written  in  red  ink  oftentimes;  they  were  always 
fiery  in  their  denunciation,  and  they  warned  the  President  that  unless 
he  changed  his  course  in  some  particular  the  writer  would  come  on  to 
Washington  to  make  an  end  of  him.  During  the  panicky  years  of  the 
second  Cleveland  administration  these  letters  were  numerous  and  were 
usually  based  upon  Mr.  Cleveland's  opposition  to  free  silver  and  his 
alleged  subserviency  to  the  bondholders  of  Wall  Street  and  of  London. 

INITIAL  SYSTEM  RIDICULED. 

The  universal  demand,  after  President  McKinley's  death,  that  the 
President  of  the  United  States  should  hereafter  be  better  protected 
against  such  murderous  attacks  as  that  upon  President  McKinley  at 
Buffalo  recalls  the  ridicule  which  was  cast  in  certain  quarters  upon  the 
attempts  made  during  the  last  administration  of  President  Cleveland  to 
guard  against  such  a  contingency.  Coxey's  army,  growing  out  of  the 
panic  of  1893,  aroused  extreme  consternation  in  Washington. 

The  accounts  of.  its  size  and  desperate  purposes  were  greatly  exag- 
gerated so  that  private  householders  in  Washington  took  measures  of 
precaution.  This  alarm  affected  not  only  the  banks  and  every  Govern- 
ment department,  but  the  officers  of  the  Executive  Mansion.  The  Treas- 
ury rooms,  which  formerly  had  been  thrown  open  to  the  public,  were 
closed  and  extra  guards  were  employed. 

At  the  Executive  Mansion  a  double  force  of  guards  was  employed, 
it  is  said,  without  the  knowledge  or  approval  of  the  President.  When 
the  cold  weather  came,  in  sympathy  for  those  who  had  to  stay  our 
during  the  night  hours,  a  small  frame  structure  was  erected  similar  to 
that  occupied  by  flagmen  at  railway  crossings.  This  was  inconspicu- 
ously placed  under  the  trees  on  the  White  House  grounds. 

THE  ALARM  OVER  COXEY  GROUNDLESS. 

The  critical  public  eagerly  seized  this  evidence  of  the  growing  alarm 
of  the  White  House  occupants  and  named  the  modest  wooden  structure 
Fort  Thurber,  after  Henry  T.  Thurber  of  Detroit,  the  President's  private 
secretary,  who  had  assumed  all  the  responsibility  for  these  extra  precau- 
tions, always  alleging  that  the  President  knew  nothing  of  them.  Whether 
this  was  out  of  loyalty  to  his  chief  or  was  actually  true  can  never  be 
known,  except  that  it  is  certain  that  few  things  took  place  about  the 
Executive  Mansion  in  those  days  of  which  Mr.  Cleveland  was  not 
cognizant. 


252  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

The  Coxey  army  turned  out  to  be  unworthy  of  alarm,  resembling  a 
collection  of  tramps  more  than  anything  else.  It  encamped  a  few  miles 
out  of  the  Capital  city,  where  supplies  were  obtained  from  neighboring 
farmers  and  by  contributions  from  some  of  the  socialistic  elements  of  that 
city.  Many  persons  feared  that  a  would-be  assassin  might  be  in  the 
Coxey  army,  but  such  did  not  turn  out  to  be  the  case. 

In  fact,  the  secret  service  had  come  to  recognize  in  crimes  of  this 
sort  a  great  distinction  between  the  self-announced  enemy  of  society,  who 
writes  threatening  letters,  and  the  quiet  wretch  who  makes  few  confidants 
but  shoots  to  kill. 

GUARDS  FOLLOWED  PRESIDENT  CLEVELAND. 

For  a  time  two  men  in  a  buggy  rode  after  President  Cleveland's  car- 
riage wherever  it  went,  but  this  was  so  distasteful  to  him  and  its  purpose 
was  so  obvious  that  it  was  either  taken  off  or  its  occupants  instructed  in 
making  their  presence  less  conspicuous.  When  President  Cleveland 
occupied  his  summer  home  on  the  Woodley  Lane,  in  the  suburbs  of 
Washington,  a  secret  service  man  in  plain  clothing  always  took  up  his 
abode  there.  He  was  seen  about  the  yard  leisurely  talking  with  the 
nurse  girls  or  playing  with  the  children. 

From  his  manner  many  persons  believed  he  was  paying  court  to 
one  of  Mrs.  Cleveland's  maids,  although  forenoon  visits  for  that  purpose 
would  have  been  quite  unconventional.  In  the  same  way  at  Buzzard's 
Bay,  on  the  Massachusetts  coast,  the  secret  service  man  made  his  way. 
And  the  system  then  established  has  practically  been  maintained  ever 
since.  It  was  relaxed  somewhat  during  the  McKinley  administration  on 
account  of  the  President's  confidence  in  the  good  will  of  the  American 
people. 


•OB 

C 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

WILLIAM  J.  BRYAN'S  TENDER  AND  GRACEFUL  TRIBUTE  TO  THE  MEMORY 
OF  PRESIDENT  McKiNLEY — THE  HEIR  TO  ENGLAND'S  THRONE  SAYS 
WORDS  OF  PRAISE — OTHER  EXPRESSIONS  OF  ADMIRATION  FOR  THE 
CHARACTER  OF  THE  DEAD  CHIEF  MAGISTRATE. 


One  of  the  most  pathetic  and  tender  tributes  to  the  martyr  President 
was  that  offered  by  William  J.  Bryan,  twice  defeated  by  President  Mc- 
Kinley  for  the  Chief  Magistracy  of  the  Nation. 

"  'God's  will,  not  ours,  be  done.'  These  were  the  last  words  of  Pres- 
ident McKinley  as  he  bade  farewell  to  the  loving  companion  of  his  life, 
to  whom  his  kindness  and  devotion  have  been  so  constant  and  conspicu- 
ous. It  was  with  this  beautiful  spirit  of  resignation  that  he  turned  from 
the  realities  of  earth  to  explore  the  mysteries  of  the  world  beyond. 

"The  struggle  was  over — the  struggle  of  a  week  during  which  hope 
and  fear  alternately  gained  the  mastery.  The  book  of  life  is  closed 
and  his  achievements  are  a  part  of  history.  After  he  became  conscious 
that  the  end  was  drawing  near,  but  before  the  shadows  quite  obscured 
the  light,  he  was  heard  to  murmur  some  of  the  words  of  'Nearer,  My 
God,  to  Thee.'  This  sacred  hymn  contains  several  lines  inspired  by 
Jacob's  night  at  Bethel : 

"  Though,  like  a  wanderer, 

The  sun  gone  down, 
Darkness  be  over  me, 

My  rest  a  stone.' 

"Thus  do  the  lines  immortalize  the  pillow  which  to  Jacob  must  have 
seemed  hard  indeed — the  pillow  which,  when  morning  came,  the  patriarch 
would  not  have  exchanged  for  the  softest  one  on  which  a  weary  head  was 
ever  laid. 

"It  is  still  true  that  one's  sorest  afflictions  and  most  bitter  experiences 
are  sometimes  stepping  stones  to  higher  rewards. 

"The  terrible  deed  at  Buffalo,  rudely  breaking  the  ties  of  family 
and  friendship  and  horrifying  every  patriotic  citizen,  crowns  a  most 
extraordinary  life  with  a  halo  that  cannot  but  exalt  its  victim's  place  in 
history,  while  his  bravery  during  the  trying  ordeal,  his  forgiving  spirit 

257 


258  WILLIAM    Me  KIN  LEY. 

and  his  fortitude  in  the  final  hours  give  glimpses  of  his  inner  life  which 
nothing  less  tragic  could  have  revealed. 

"But,  inexpressibly  sad  as  is  the  death  of  McKinley,  the  illustrious 
citizen,  it  is  the  damnable  murder  of  McKinley,  the  President,  that  melts 
seventy-five  million  hearts  into  one  and  brings  a  hush  to  the  farm,  the 
factory  and  the  forum. 

"Death  is  the  inevitable  incident  of  every  human  career.  It  despises 
the  sword  and  shield  of  the  warrior,  and  laughs  at  the  precautions  sug- 
gested by  science;  wealth  cannot  build  walls  high  enough  or  thick 
enough  to  shut  it  out,  and  no  house  is  humble  enough  to  escape  its 
visitation.  Even  love,  the  most  potent  force  known  to  man — love,  the 
characteristic  which  links  the  human  to  the  divine — even  love  is  power- 
less in  its  presence.  Its  contingency  is  recognized  in  the  marriage  vow — 
'until  death  us  do  part' — and  is  written  upon  friendship's  signet  ring. 
But  the  death,  even  when  produced  by  natural  causes,  of  a  public  servant 
charged  with  the  tremendous  responsibilities  which  press  upon  a  Presi- 
dent, shocks  the  entire  country  and  is  infinitely  multiplied  when  the  cir- 
cumstances attending  it  constitute  an  attack  upon  the  government  itself. 
No  one  can  estimate  the  far-reaching  effect  of  such  an  act  as  that  which 
now  casts  a  gloom  over  our  land.  It  shames  America  in  the  eyes  of 
the  world;  it  impairs  her  moral  prestige  and  gives  the  enemies  of  fr^e 
government  a  chance  to  mock  at  her.  And  it  excites  an  indignation 
which,  while  righteous  in  itself,  may  lead  to  acts  which  will  partake  of 
the  spirit  of  lawlessness. 

"As  the  President's  death  overwhelms  all  in  a  common  sorrow,  so 
it  imposes  a  common  responsibility — namely,  to  so  avenge  the  wrong 
done  to  the  President,  his  family  and  the  country  as  to  make  the  Exec- 
utive's life  secure  without  bringing  insecurity  to  freedom  of  speech  or 
freedom  of  the  press. 

"One  of  the  many  striking  and  touching  incidents  occuring  at  Buf- 
falo was  the  meeting  between  the  President  and  Mrs.  McKinley  for  the 
first  time  after  the  assault.  The  dispatches  report  that  Mrs.  McKinley 
took  a  seat  at  the  bedside  and  held  the  President's  hand.  The  distin- 
guished sufferer  looked  into  the  face  of  his  good  wife  and  said  in  a 
low  tone :  'We  must  bear  up ;  it  will  be  better  for  us  both.'  With  tears 
streaming  down  her  cheeks  Mrs.  McKinley  nodded  assent. 

"There  is  a  depth  of  pathos  in  this  little  incident  that  must  appeal 
forcefully  to  those  who  appreciate  the  strength  of  the  ties  that  bind  a 
good  husband  to  a  good  wife. 

"There  may  be  some  people  who  have  no  idea  of  the  thoughts  that 
were  passing  through  the  minds  of  this  couple  at  that  moment.  There 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  259 

are,  however,  many  others  who  can  imagine  what  these  thoughts  were. 
There,  on  the  bed  of  pain,  lay  the  strong,  powerful  man.  By  his  side 
sat  the  frail  woman,  whose  physical  weakness  has  been  for  many  years 
the  subject  of  this  husband's  tender  solicitude.  In  an  humble  way  they 
began  life  together.  Two  little  graves  had  for  them  a  common  interest. 
In  prosperity  and  in  adversity  they  had  stood  together,  participating 
equally  in  the  joys  and  sharing  equally  in  the  sorrows  of  life.  The  wife 
had  shared  in  the  great  honors  that  had  come  to  her  husband,  and  now, 
when  the  very  summit  of  political  ambition  had  been  reached  and  political 
honors  had  become  so  common  that  the  conveniences  of  a  quiet,  domestic 
life  were  longed  for  by  the  woman,  in  order,  as  she  often  expressed  it, 
that  she  might  have  her  husband  to  herself,  the  bullet  of  an  assassin  had 
done  the  work  that  threatened  to  blast  the  highest  ambition  of  this 
woman's  life. 

"  'We  must  bear  up/  said  the  President,  'it  will  be  better  for  us  both.' 
It  matters  not  to  what  extent  other  men  and  women  may  have  grieved ; 
it  matters  not  how  many  tears  other  men  and  women  may  have  shed  and 
how  much  other  hearts  may  have  ached.  All  of  this  grief  and  woe  could 
not  have  been  so  acute  as  was  the  grief  and  woe  which  this  man  and 
woman  suppressed  in  compliance  with  the  suggestion.  'It  will  be  better 
for  us  both.' " 

HE  SHOWED  PATRIOTISM  AND  SINCERITY. 

Hope,  Ark.,  September  I4th. — Two  days  ago  all  classes  of  people, 
without  regard  to  party,  were  rejoicing  over  the  assurance  that  the  Presi- 
dent would  live.  Now  sorrow  fills  all  hearts,  all  differences  are  forgot- 
ten in  the  recollection  of  his  private  virtues  and  his  splendid  personal 
qualities,  which  won  the  admiration  of  all  men.  His  tenacious  adhesion 
to  the  principles  of  government  in  which  he  believed  showed  the  honesty 
of  his  convictions  and  the  patriotism  of  his  purposes.  While  I  dissented 
strongly  from  the  policy  of  his  administration  on  important  questions, 
I  never  doubted  that  he  meant  all  for  the  best  interests  of  the  country. 
Peace  to  his  ashes!  JAMES  K.  JONES, 

United  States  Senator. 

THE  WEST  HAD  COME  TO  LOVE  His  MANLINESS. 

Denver,  Col.,  September  I4th. — President  McKinley,  by  his  noble, 
courageous,  self-sacrificing  life  endeared  himself  to  all.  We  have  lost  a 
ruler  whose  gentle  character  and  lovable  disposition  have  long  been 
proverbial  among  all  classes  of  the  nation.  He  had  shown  in  his  inter- 
course with  the  people  and  his  devotion  to  his  invalid  wife  the  heart  and 


260  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

mind  of  a  man  fully  endowed  with  a  Christian  and  charitable  spirit.  His 
trip  to  the  West  gave  a  better  opportunity  for  knowing  and  appreciating 
the  sterling  qualities  of  the  man  and  impressed  upon  the  hearts  of  West- 
ern people  the  fairness,  nobleness  and  gentleness  of  his  great  nature. 

JAMES  B.  ORMAN,  Governor  of  Colorado. 

OPPONENTS  LOVED  His  NOBLE  CHARACTER. 

Jefferson  City,  Mo.,  September  i4th. — At  this  time  it  is  not  practi- 
cable for  me  to  give  a  just  estimate  of  the  character  of  President  Mc- 
Kinley.  My  personal  relations  with  him  for  twenty  years  have  been  so 
cordial  that  I  feel  his  loss  most  keenly.  Differing  with  him  upon  many 
public  questions,  I  have  never  failed  to  recognize  his  honesty,  patriotism 
and  marked  ability. 

His  private  life  was  pure  and  stainless.  The  devotion  to  his  invalid 
wife  was  so  constant  that  it  won  the  esteem  of  all.  This  beautiful  trait 
was  the  occasion  of  much  favorable  comment  at  Washington,  long  before 
his  name  was  mentioned  in  connection  with  the  Presidency. 

A.  M.  DOCKERY,  Ex-Governor  of  Missouri. 

MEMORY  OF  His  SERVICES  WILL  LIVE  LONG. 

Evanston,  Wyo.,  September  I4th. — That  the  life  of  President  Mc- 
Kinley  should  have  been  sought  is  a  thing  that  passes  understanding.  Of 
the  highest  ideals,  of  exceptional  purity  of  personal  life,  his  public 
services  were  so  exclusively  devoted  to  the  welfare  of  his  countrymen, 
especially  of  the  American  workingmen,  it  is  incredible  that  he  should 
be  stricken  in  the  hour  of  his  supreme  usefulness.  It  will  be  long  before 
the  Nation  sees  his  like  again,  but  the  benefits  of  his  life  and  public 
services  will  remain.  Immediate  action  should  be  had  by  Congress, 
specially  called  for  that  purpose,  to  minimize  the  possibility  of  future  like 
tragedies.  CLARENCE  D.  CLARK,  United  States  Senator. 

WILL  LIVE  WITH  WASHINGTON  AND  LINCOLN. 

Marion,  Ky.,  September  I4th. — The  death  of  President  McKinley 
removes  from  earth  one  of  America's  greatest  statesmen.  He  will  live 
in  history  along  beside  of  Washington,  Jefferson,  Lincoln  and  Grant. 
This  country  has  produced  many  able  men  who  have  honored  every  avo- 
cation of  life,  but  it  is  doubtful  if  she  ever  had  one  who  excelled  William 
McKinley  in  all  the  qualities  which  go  to  make  up  noble  and  useful  man- 
hood. I  knew  him  intimately,  and  always  found  him  kind  and  courteous. 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  261 

He  lived  a  pure,  Christian  life.  His  noble  traits  of  character,  his  great 
wisdom  and  ability  as  a  statesman  will  ever  be  appreciated  by  a  grateful 
Nation.  WILLIAM  J.  DEBOE,  United  States  Senator. 

LEFT  NONE  BUT  HALLOWED  MEMORIES. 

Helena,  Mont.,  September  I4th. — The  history  will  accord  the  late 
President  a  high  niche  in  the  gallery  of  statesmen.  His  message  and 
public  documents  reflect  a  wide  range  of  experience,  affluence  of  learning 
and  copiousness  of  thought.  His  broad,  generous,  hospitable  nature 
invited  confidence  and  suffered  no  official  distance  of  age  or  station  to 
intervene  between  himself  and  his  countrymen,  who  profoundly  respected 
him.  He  was  as  void  of  dogmatism  and  intolerance  as  he  was  of  indo- 
lence and  selfishness.  He  leaves  in  the  hearts  of  all  who  knew  him,  and 
most  with  those  who  knew  him  best,  profound  regrets  and  dear,  honored, 
hallowed  memories.  J.  K.  TOOLE,  Governor  of  Montana. 

ONE  OP  THE  PUREST  AND  ABLEST. 

Oxford,  Miss.,  September  I4th. — The  assassination  of  President 
McKinley  is  the  most  serious  and  appalling  act  that  has  ever  been  com- 
mitted. It  is  not  only  an  actual  calamity,  but  calls  for  a  law  that  shall 
forever  put  down  anarchists  and  exclude  this  class  from  our  country. 
The  President  was  one  of  the  purest  and  ablest  men  our  country  has 
produced.  He  was  a  splendid  type  of  the  well-educated  and  loyal  citizen 
of  the  United  States,  who  possessed  much  influence  in  managing  public 
sentiment  and  was  a  shining  example  of  what  push  and  energy  and 
devotion  to  a  single  purpose  can  accomplish. 

W.  V.  SULLIVAN,  United  States  Senator. 

PAIN  UNIVERSALLY  FELT. 

Salt  Lake,  Utah,  September  I4th. — It  was  the  will  of  the  majority 
of  the  people  last  November  that  Mr.  McKinley  should  be  President 
another  four  years.  Because  he  was  President  he  was  shot  and  the  pain 
of  that  wound  was  universally  felt.  Personally  no  President  has  been 
more  highly  esteemed.  It  is  a  universal  public  bereavement. 

G.  L.  RAWLINS,  United  States  Senator. 

A  MODEL  HUSBAND  AND  GREAT  STATESMAN. 

Carrollton,  Miss.,  September  I4th. — President  McKinley's  death  is 
a  shock  to  the  civilized  world.  The  manner  of  his  taking  off  is  an  added 
horror.  I  was  a  member  of  Congress  when  he  entered  the  House  and 
soon  knew  him  well.  I  never  knew  a  more  kindly  natured  and  amiable 
gentleman.  In  domestic  life  he  was  a  model  son  and  husband,  and  made 


262  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

two  good  women  happy  by  his  devotion.  He  was  clear  and  pure  in  his 
living,  a  consistent  Christian  and  honest  business  man  and  an  honorable 
gentleman.  His  daring  enterprise  in  public  policies  made  him  the  leader 
of  his  party.  The  sense  of  loss  and  grief  is  general  and  profound. 

H.  D.  MONEY,  United  States  Senator. 

ONE  OF  THE  GREATEST  AMERICAN  PRESIDENTS. 

Portland,  Ore.,  September  I4th. — The  cowardly  assassination  of 
President  McKinley  is  a  great  calamity  to  the  American  people.  Mc- 
Kinley  was  one  of  the  greatest  Presidents  we  ever  had.  His  character 
was  noble.  History  will  write  the  record  of  his  public  career  in  glowing 
words.  He  was  conservative,  perhaps  too  much  so,  some  who  differed 
politically  have  said,  but  still,  if  that  was  true,  it  was  no  great  fault. 
He  stood  at  the  helm  of  the  Ship  of  State  through  trying  times,  and 
whether  in  war  or  peace  he  always  maintained  that  dignified,  consistent 
attitude  that  must  demand  the  respect  and  love  of  the  American  people. 

JOSEPH  SIMON,  United  States  Senator. 

KENTUCKY  IN  MOURNING. 

Big  hearted  and  broad  minded,  President  McKinley  never  showed 
any  of  that  bitterness  and  prejudice  usually  engendered  by  sectional 
warfare  or  political  contests,  and  to-day,  in  the  South  as  well  as  in  the 
North,  in  the  West  as  well  as  in  the  East,  the  heart  of  every  good  Amers 
can  citizen  is  bowed  deep  in  grief.  J.  C.  W.  BECKHAM, 

Governor  of  Kentucky. 

HE  WAS  A  TRUE  FRIEND  OF  THE  SOUTH. 

Jackson,  Miss.,  September  I4th. — In  the  death  of  President  Mc- 
Kinley the  people  of  Mississippi  feel  that  they  are  bereft  of  a  true  friend, 
a  patriot,  one  who  had  at  heart  the  best  interests  of  the  whole  country. 

His  desire  was  to  add  to  the  prosperity  and  material  advancement  of 
the  United  States  and  a  restoration  of  the  good  feeling  and  fellowship 
between  the  North  and  South. 

Our  people  deplore  his  sad  end.  They  invoke  the  blessings  of  Him 
who  rules  all  Nations  and  all  people  upon  the  bereaved  family  and  rela- 
tives. JAMES  T.  HARRISON, 

Acting  Governor. 
No  GRIEF  So  PROFOUND. 

The  town  (Cape  May)  is  draped  in  mourning.  I  am  speechless  with 
sorrow  that  another  American  President  must  lie  with  Lincoln  and  Gar- 
field  in  a  martyr's  grave. 

McKinley's  vision  of  the  glory  of  America  in  the  near  future  by 


WILLIAM    M cKI N LEY.  263 

the  completion  of  the  public  measures  of  his  administration  as  outlined 
in  his  last  public  address  at  Buffalo  nine  days  ago  deepens  the  sorrow 
that  will  be  universal  because  of  his  not  being  able  to  ever  finish  the 
great  work  in  hand.  I  cannot  think  of  any  other  event  that  could  plunge 
the  Nation  in  such  grief  or  touch  the  liberty  loving  world  so  profoundly 
with  regret  as  the  sudden,  uncalled-for  sacrifice  of  our  President. 

JOHN  WANAMAKER,  Ex-Postmaster  General. 

THE  SUPERIOR  otf  ALL  MEN. 

He  himself  must  be  his  best  interpreter.  His  acts,  his  utterances  with 
their  indescribable  charm,  have  made  him  known  to  the  American  people. 
Through  these  they  understand  and  appreciate  him.  In  their  hearts  can 
be  found  the  love  and  the  gratitude  which  his  unselfish,  untiring  and 
affectionate  devotion  to  his  country  justly  inspires.  If  I  speak  of  him, 
it  must  be  simply  and  without  exaggeration. 

In  active  life  extending  over  a  long  period  I  have  met  many  men 
of  superior  powers  and  manifold  graces,  but  I  had  come  to  regard  him 
in  the  combined  qualities  which  make  a  man  truly  great  as  the  superior 
of  all  the  men  I  have  ever  known. 

LYMAN  J.  GAGE,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

THE  WHOLE  WORLD  HAS  LOST  ONE  IT  COULD  ILLY  SPARE. 

Santa  Fe,  N.  M.,  September  I4th. — In  the  death  of  President  Mc- 
Kinley  the  whole  world  has  lost  one  it  could  illy  spare.  He  was  a  great 
and  noble  example  of  manhood  in  its  highest  form,  as  a  patriot,  states- 
man, diplomat  and  Chief  Executive  of  this  Nation.  He  was  equal  to 
every  situation  and  compelled  respect  and  admiration  at  home  and 
abroad.  While  in  private  life  he  was  a  model  American  citizen  whose 
every  action  was  an  incentive  to  higher  living  and  nobler  thinking. 
His  memory  will  be  revered  as  that  of  Washington  and  Lincoln,  and 
while  we  mourn  we  give  thanks  that  he  was  spared  to  us  so  long. 

MIGUEL  A.  OTERO,  Governor  of  New  Mexico. 

THE  SOUTH  LOST  A  FRIEND  AND  THE  COUNTRY  A  GREAT  AND  GOOD  MAN. 

Baton  Rouge,  La.,  September  i4th. — It  is  with  profound  sorrow 
that  I  have  learned  of  the  death  of  the  President.  The  South  has  lost  a 
friend  and  the  country  a  great  and  good  man.  No  President  since  the 
Civil  War  has  done  more  to  destroy  the  feeling  resulting  from  that 
strife  and  unite  the  two  sections  in  cordial  friendship.  He  had  great 
faith  and  confidence  in  the  masses  of  the  people  and  it  is  dreadful  to 
contemplate  that  he  should  lose  his  life  while  exhibiting  that  confidence 


264  WILLIAM    Me  KIN  LEY. 

by  mingling  with  the  people.  His  home  life  was  beautiful  and  his  devo- 
tion to  his  invalid  wife  won  for  him  the  affectionate  regards  of  all  good 
people.  W.  W.  HEARD,  Governor  of  Louisiana. 

His  MEMORY  CLOSE  TO  HEART  OF  EVERY  TRUE  LOVER  OF  LIBERTY. 

"All  men  must  praise  President  McKinley  for  the  great  example  he 
gave  in  his  wholesome  private  life.  The  bitterest  political  opponent  could 
find  no  vulnerable  point  to  attack  him  in  as  far  as  he  was  considered  as 
a  member  of  a  social  body. 

"Again,  his  example  was  most  worthy  in  his  public  profession,  at  all 
times  of  his  religious  belief  and  in  his  intrusting  the  nation  to  the  provi- 
dence of  God.  His  public  profession  is  doubly  valuable,  when  so  many 
who  pretend  to  be  leaders  utterly  ignore  the  claims  of  God. 

"Not  exactly  anarchy,  as  professed,  prompted  the  assassin,  but  want 
of  religious  education.  If  we  stamp  out  anarchy  it  will  only  be  when 
men  accept  the  teachings  of  Christ  and  learn  that  some  must  suffer  severely 
and  that  suffering  is  the  lot  of  man,  and  that  the  poor  will  always  be 
the  great  majority,  for  Christ  said  that  the  poor  would  always  be  with 
the  church.  A  religious  poor  will  always  be  the  strongest  bulwark  of  the 
Republic. 

"However  sudden  his  death  has  been,  it  will  only  serve  to  bind  the 
memory  of  President  McKinley  more  closely  to  the  heart  of  every  lover 
of  liberty. 

"In  the  present  moment  of  excitement  we  who  love  Hberty  should 
be  careful  that  our  love  for  the  dead  President  does  not  tempt  us  to  acts 
or  expressions  that,  in  themselves,  injure  or  lessen  the  effects  of  constitu- 
tional form. 

"No  provocation  on  the  part  of  disciples  of  anarchy  will  permit  us 
to  deprive  them  of  any  of  their  constitutional  rights  and  privileges.  It 
is  sad  to  see,  in  these  moments  of  excitement,  that  certain  clergymen  and 
public  men  go  so  far  as  to  intimate  that  the  people  should  take  the  law  in 
their  own  hands,  and  not  wait  for  the  proper  procedure  in  the  line  of  pun- 
ishment. 

"Those  in  authority  cannot  be  too  insistent  on  the  fact  that  all  the 
government  has  within  itself  is  the  power  of  rectifying  all  injustices.  We 
love  McKinley  less  if  we  will  express  our  love  in  the  breaking  of  the 
slightest  constitutional  right,  and  we  injure  our  country  before  the  entire 
world  if  we  give  evidence  that  we  desire  to  lose  our  good  judgment  in 
dealing  with  this  awful  crime. 

"No  wrong,  however  dastardly,  will  allow  a  government  to  connive 
at  another  wrong  against  the  culprit.  The  motto  of  the  American  people 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  265 

toward  assassins  should  be  that  of  the  President :    'Let  no  one  hurt  him.' 
"McKinley's  name  and  memory  will  be  forever  enshrined  in  the  heart 
of  the  nation  on  account  of  his  quiet,  manly  and  Christian  demeanor  in 
times  of  public  distress,  and  especially  in  those  last  trying  hours." 

RT.  REV.  J.  P.  MULDOON,  D.  D., 
Auxiliary  Bishop  Archdiocese  of  Chicago. 

FORMER  PRESIDENT  CLEVELAND'S  GRIEF. 

Former  President  Cleveland  expressed  great  sorrow  when  informed 
of  Mr.  McKinley's  death. 

"In  the  gloom  surrounding  this  third  Presidential  murder  within  the 
memory  of  men  not  yet  old,  we  can  scarcely  keep  out  of  mind  a  feeling 
of  stunning  amazement  that  in  free  America,  blessed  with  a  government 
consecrated  to  popular  welfare  and  content,  the  danger  of  assassination 
should  ever  encompass  the  faithful  discharge  of  the  highest  official  duty. 
It  is  hard  at  such  a  time  as  this  to  calmly  and  patiently  await  the  unfolding 
of  the  purpose  of  God." 

A  BRIGHT  EXAMPLE  FOR  AMERICAN  YOUTH. 

Warrensburg,  Mo.,  September  14. — The  death  of  President  McKinley 
is  a  great  loss  to  our  country,  and  is  sincerely  mourned  by  all  our  people. 
He  was  in  the  fullest  sense  the  true  Christian  gentleman  ;  intensely  Amer- 
ican, devoted  to  our  country,  its  institutions  and  people.  In  social  and 
official  life  he  -was  charmingly  simple,  unostentatious,  cordial  and  attrac- 
tive, creating  a  most  pleasing  and  favorable  impression.  Few,  if  any,  of 
our  Presidents  have  been  so  popular  personally  and  so  fondly  admired  and 
loved  as  President  McKinley.  His  life,  habits,  character  and  attain- 
ments are  a  bright  example  for  the  guidance  of  our  American  youth. 

F.  M.  COCKRELL,  United  States  Senator. 

DID  WHAT  HE  THOUGHT  BEST  FOR  THE  COUNTRY. 

Madison,  Neb.,  September  I4th. — The  death  of  the  President  is  a 
heavy  blow  to  the  American  people  and  to  all  who  believe  in  enlightened 
and  justified  government.  Although  when  it  was  known  that  he  had  been 
wounded  by  a  bullet  thoughtful  men  must  have  been  convinced  that  the 
chances  were  against  the  President's  being  able  to  survive  the  shock,  his 
death  has  nevertheless  fallen  heavily  upon  all,  regardless  of  whether  they 
agreed  or  disagreed  with  him  in  his  political  policies  and  beliefs.  I  knew 
and  frequently  met  him  in  an  official  way,  and  I  have  no  occasion  to 
doubt  that  he  sincerely  desired  the  welfare  of  his  country. 

WILLIAM  V.  ALLEN,  United  States  Senator. 


266  W  ILL  I  A  M    M  c  KIN  LEY. 

NEVADA  JOINS  IN  SORROW. 

Nevada  joins  with  the  people  of  the  United  States  in  their  deep 
sorrow  for  the  loss  of  a  great  and  good  man,  exalted  in  public  life,  un- 
blemished in  example  before  the  world,  actuated  by  unselfish  sympathy  for 
his  fellow-man  and,  above  all,  reflecting  the  highest  devotion  and  love 
in  the  sacred  precincts  of  domestic  and  social  life. 

REINHOLD  SADLER,  Governor  of  Nevada. 

SHERMAN'S  SON  DENOUNCES  ASSASSIN. 

Denunciation  of  the  assassin  of  President  McKinley  and  of  the  doc- 
trines which  advocate  like  deeds,  coupled  with  a  eulogy  of  the  wounded 
President,  was  expressed  in  a  lecture  by  the  Rev.  Thomas  Sherman,  S.  J., 
son  of  General  W.  T.  Sherman,  at  the  Holy  Family  Church,  Chicago, 
following  the  assassination. 

Father  Sherman  since  his  childhood  had  been  an  intimate  friend 
of  the  McKinley  family.  He  declared  that  President  McKinley  had  at  all 
times  been  his  ideal  of  the  broad-minded  and  patriotic  citizen,  soldier 
and  statesman,  while  his  domestic  life  had  left  its  impress  on  every 
American  home. 

"The  American  people  must  arouse  themselves  and  crush  out  of 
existence  the  principles  and  the  men  who  have  contributed  to  this,  our 
national  calamity,"  he  said.  "While  70,000,000  people  are  mourning 
these  irresponsible,  useless  and  inhuman  brutes  boast  of  their  belief  and 
pride  in  the  principles  that  caused  this  fanatic  to  commit  the  deed. 

"It  is  not  the  individual  so  much  as  the  doctrines  that  should  be 
remorselessly  crushed  out,  and  death  is  the  fitting  penalty  for  those  who 
teach  them  or  incite  similar  acts.  Too  much  leniency  has  been  shown  the 
Chicago  anarchists.  When  the  great  wave  of  anger  following  the  Hay- 
market  riot  had  died  away  they  crept  back  to  their  former  haunts,  and 
the  injudicious  pardoning  of  the  participants  has  once  more  made  them 
bold  and  made  the  act  of  Czolgosz  a  possibility. 

"Their  boasts  that  they  will  hold  secret  meetings  if  their  public  ones 
are  suppressed  should  be  met,  and  the  power  of  the  law  which  they 
threaten  be  shown  to  them.  Everything  they  advocate  is  unalterably  op- 
posed to  the  constitution  of  the  United  States. 

"In  the  near  future  the  matter  probably  will  be  given  more  serious 
consideration,  and  the  Catholics  of  the  United  States  will  have  something 
to  say  about  the  foul  doctrines  of  these  people  and  the  punishmeat  that 
should  be  meted  out  to  them." 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  267 

ENGLAND'S  HEIR  PRAISES  MCKINLEY. 

The  Duke  and  Duchess  of  York  and  Cornwall  made  a  formal  entry 
into  the  Dominion  of  Canada  September  i6th,  at  Quebec.  They  were 
escorted  to  the  legislative  Council  Chamber  and  a  formal  address  of  wel- 
come was  read  to  them  in  the  presence  of  a  distinguished  company. 

A  reference  was  made  to  President  McKinley  as  follows  in  the  wel- 
coming address : 

"May  we  be  permitted  to  add  that  among  the  national  emblems  and 
decorations  of  all  kinds  which  mark  our  welcome  and  brignten  our  streets 
in  your  honor  your  Royal  Highness  has  no  doubt  observed  that  some  of 
them  are  draped  in  mourning.  These  are  the  flags  of  the  great,  friendly 
nation  on  our  border,  with  whom  we  are  connected  by  so  many  ties  of 
kinship  and  mutual  interest,,  and  in  whose  grief  for  the  untimely  death  of 
their  beloved  and  widely  respected  President  we  most  sincerely  join." 

DUKE  EXPRESSES  GRIEF. 

"In  replying  the  Duke  said : 

"I  take  this,  the  first,  opportunity  to  express  in  common  with  the 
whole  civilized  world  my  horror  at  the  detestable  crime  which  has  plunged 
into  mourning  the  great  friendly  nation  on  your  border  and  has  robbed 
the  United  States  of  the  precious  life  of  their  Chief  Magistrate  in  the 
midst  of  the  fulfillment  of  the  high  and  honorable  duties  of  his  proud 
position. 

"The  Duchess  and  I  share  with  you  to  the  fullest  extent  the  feelings 
of  sympathy  which  you  have  manifested  toward  a  people  with  whom  we 
are  connected  by  ties  of  kinship  and  of  national  esteem,  and  our  hearts 
go  out  to  the  widow  and  bereaved  family  of  the  late  distinguished  and 
beloved  President." 

SIAM'S  CROWN  PRINCE  EXPRESSES  SORROW. 

London,  September  i/th. — Ambassador  Choate  has  received  the  fol- 
lowing letter  from  Chowfa  Maha  Vajiravudh,  the  youthful  Crown  Prince 
of  Siam,  who  is  being  educated  in  England,  it  being  dated  from  the 
Siamese  Legation : 

"Dear  Mr.  Choate :  I  only  wish  to  write  a  line  to  express  my  deep 
sorrow  for  the  sad  event  and  to  say  how  greatly  I  feel  for  the  people 
of  the  United  States,  among  whom  I  can  count  many  good  personal 
friends. 

"I  feel  that  I  have  not  language  enough  to  express  my  sorrow  for 
the  dastardly  act  which  has  robbed  the  United  States  of  its  illustrious 
President  and  the  world  of  so  good  a  man. 


268  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

~i 

"I  cannot  tell  you  how  much  I  deplore  the  act.  I  beg  you  to  convey 
to  the  proper  quarter  my  heartfelt  sympathy  and  condolences.  Accept 
yourself  my  special  expressions  of  friendship.  MAH,  VAJIRAVUDH. 

Mr.    Choate  made  a  warmly  appreciative  reply. 

CHINESE  PRAISE  FOR  THE  DEAD  PRESIDENT. 

Pekin,  September  i6th. — Li  Hung  Chang  sent  through  Minister  Con- 
ger condolences  to  the  American  Government  on  the  death  of  President 
McKinley.  He  refers  to  the  new  departure  and  extension  of  influence 
accomplished  under  McKinley's  administration,  and  expresses  gratitude 
for  the  good  offices  of  the  Government  in  the  Chinese  trouble.  He  says 
that  his  personal  sorrow  is  keen. 

A  similar  note  has  been  received  by  Minister  Conger  from  Prince 
Ching,  Li  Hung  Chang's  colleague,  who  memorialized  the  throne  on  the 
death  of  the  President. 

Memorial  services  will  be  held  at  the  American  Legation  on  Thursday, 
the  day  of  the  President's  funeral. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

THEODORE  ROOSEVELT  A  KNICKERBOCKER  OF  THE  KNICKERBOCKERS — ONE 
OF  A  LONG  AND  DISTINGUISHED  LINE  OF  PATRIOTS — FOREFATHERS 
CAME  FROM  THE  NETHERLANDS — "TEDDY'S"  ADVANCEMENT  DUE  TO 
His  OWN  ENERGY  AND  EFFORTS — RECORD  IN  POLITICS  AND  WAR. 


Theodore  Roosevelt,  one  of  the  most  remarkable  characters  in  the 
political  history  of  the  United  States,  is  a  Knickerbocker  of  the  Knicker- 
bockers. He  was  born  in  New  York  City  on  October  27,  1858.  He  comes 
from  a  family  which  has  made  a  name  in  American  annals  for  disinterested 
public  spirit,  vigorous  endeavor,  and  general  usefulness.  He  is  the  sev- 
enth in  descent  from  Klaas  Martensen  van  Roosevelt,  who,  with  his 
wife,  Jannetje  Samuels-Thomas,  emigrated  from  the  Netherlands  to  New 
Amsterdam  in  1649. 

For  two  and  one-half  centuries  the  descendants  of  this  burgher  of  old 
Manhattan  have  lived  in  and  near  New  York  City.  Church  records  show 
that  between  1652  and  1894  several  Roosevelts  were  born  on  Manhattan 
Island.  The  name  was  properly  spelled,  however,  in  the  Dutch  marriage 
records  published  for  the  years  1682  and  1774. 

Since  1700  the  Roosevelt  family  has  been  prominent  in  the  municipal 
history  of  New  York  City.  Nicholas  Roosevelt,  a  bolter,  was  an  Alderman 
that  year;  John  Roosevelt,  a  merchant,  was  an  assistant  Alderman  from 
1748  to  1767;  Cornelius  Roosevelt  served  as  Alderman  from  1759  to  1764, 
and  in  the  Assembly  in  1803.  James  Roosevelt  held  these  offices  in  1809 
and  from  1796  to  1797,  respectively.  From  1828  to  1843  James  J.  Roose- 
velt advanced  from  assistant  Alderman  through  the  Supreme  Court  bench 
and  the  General  Assembly  to  Congress. 

Isaac  Roosevelt  was  a  member  of  the  New  York  Provincial  Congress. 
Jacobus  J.  Roosevelt,  great-grandfather  of  Theodore  Roosevelt,  was  born 
in  1759,  and  gave  his  services  without  compensation  during  the  War  of 
Independence.  A  brother  of  this  patriot,  Nicholas  Roosevelt,  won  fame 
as  an  inventor  and  was  an  associate  of  Robert  H.  Livingston,  John  Stevens 
and  Robert  Fulton  in  developing  the  steamboat  and  steam  navigation. 

The  grandfather  of  Theodore  Roosevelt,  Cornelius  Van  Schaick 
Roosevelt,  was  born  in  1794.  He  was  a  dealer  in  hardware  and  plate 

271 


272  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

glass  and  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Chemical  Bank.     One  of  his  cousins, 

James  Henry  Roosevelt,  was  distinguished  for  his  philanthropy,  and  left 

an  estate  of  $1,000,000  to  found  the  Roosevelt  Hospital  in  New  York  City. 

The  following  are  the  Roosevelts  who  held  public  office  in  New  York 

City  prior  to  the  advent  of  the  present  bearer  of  the  name : 

Nicholas  Roosevelt,  Alderman 1700 

John  Roosevelt  (merchant),  assistant  Alderman 1748 — 1767 

Cornelius  Roosevelt,  Alderman 1759 — 1764 

In  the  Assembly 1803 

James  Roosevelt,  Alderman 1809 

In  the  Assembly 1796 — 1797 

James  J.  Roosevelt,  Assistant  Alderman 1828 — 1839 

Supreme  Court  Justice 1854 — 1860 

In  the  Assembly 1835 — 1%4° 

In  Congress 1841 — 1843 

In  old-time  records  the  Roosevelts  are  mentioned  as  sugar  refiners, 
merchants,  bankers,  trustees  of  charitable  institutions  and  public  officials. 
The  Roosevelts  figured  patriotically  during  the  Revolutionary  War.  Nich- 
olas Roosevelt  was  a  First  Lieutenant  of  the  "Corsicans"  of  1775. 
Another  Roosevelt  was  officer  of  an  up-country  company. 

One  of  the  family  served  in  the  War  of  1812.  The  family  also  fur- 
nished large  sums  of  money  to  the  newly  formed  Continental  Government 
and  patriotically  accepted  the  Government's  paper  money  at  the  value  of 
coin. 

Theodore  Roosevelt,  the  father  of  the  Vice-President,  was  bora  in 
1831,  and  married  Martha  Bulloch.  Theodore  was  the  second  of  the  four 
children  resulting  from  this  union.  He  was  born  in  his  father's  house  at 
28  East  Twentieth  Street.  His  people  originally  lived  on  the  Battery, 
but  as  the  town  changed  gradually  moved  away  from  the  business  center. 
His  grandfather  once  owned  a  fine  residence  at  one  of  the  corners  of  what 
is  now  Fourteenth  Street  and  Broadway. 

In  blood  Mr.  Roosevelt  is  a  quarter  Hollandish  and  three-quarters 
Scotch,  Irish  and  French-Huguenot.  His  mother  was  a  Bonhill  and  had 
relatives  of  the  name  of  Lukin  and  Craig.  The  Lamontaigne  family  is  in 
his  ancestry,  and  the  Devoes  of  Georgia  and  South  Carolina.  His  uncle, 
James  D.  Bulloch,  built  the  noted  privateer  Alabama,  and  another  of  the 
Bullocks  fired  the  last  gun  aboard  her.  But  after  all  this  is  said  of  the 
ancestry  chroniclers  agree  that  Mr.  Roosevelt  owes  a  great  deal  to  his 
father. 

The  elder  Theodore  Roosevelt  was  one  of  the  leading  men  of  his  day; 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  273 

in  the  metropolis — the  days  of  the  Civil  War.  He  was  a  merchant, 
philanthropist  and  a  lover  of  outdoor  life.  He  more  than  any  one  else 
founded  the  present  newsboys'  lodging-house  system.  He  devised  and 
carried  out  the  plan  of  the  War  Time  Allotment  Commission.  He  could 
drive  a  four-in-hand  team  better  than  any  other  New  Yorker  of  his  day. 
He  died  in  1878,  idolized  by  the  son,  who  was  to  take  up  the  lines  of  the 
ambitious  part  of  his  life  and  carry  them  on. 

Young  Roosevelt  was  educated  at  home  by  private  tutors  for  a  time, 
and  then  entered  Harvard,  where  he  was  graduated  in  1880.  Then  he 
went  to  Europe. 

In  Europe  he  climbed  the  Jungfrau  and  the  Matterhorn,  and  that 
made  him  a  member  of  the  Alpine  Club  of  London.  Then  he  took  to  the 
Rockies,  but  not  before  he  was  Second  Lieutenant  of  the  Eighth  Regiment 
of  the  New  York  National  Guards,  and  later  a  Captain  in  the  same  regi- 
ment. 

In  the  West  he  was  in  the  last  big  buffalo  hunt  (1883)  at  Pretty 
Buttes.  He  joined  with  the  whites  and  the  Sioux  in  the  great  killing. 
He  hunted  elk,  sheep,  deer,  buffalo  and  antelope.  He  lived  in  a  long  log 
house  which  he  helped  to  build  himself.  He  kept  books  with  him  and 
wrote  whenever  the  inclination  prompted.  He  was  without  fear  and  with- 
out coarseness.  He  was  neither  the  braggadocio  nor  the  coward.  But 
with  all  this  kind  of  experience  he  managed  to  serve  three  terms  in  the 
Legislature  of  New  York. 

He  was  elected  to  the  Assembly  from  the  Murray  Hill  District.  He 
won  for  himself  the  name  of  being  a  fearless  champion  of  the  rights  of  the 
people. 

During  these  years  he  secured  the  abolition  of  fees  in  the  office  of 
the  County  Clerk,  the  setting  aside  of  the  joint  power  of  the  Board  of 
Aldermen — of  especial  benefit  to  New  York  City.  He  was  foremost  in 
securing  the  passage  of  the  Civil  Service  Reform  Law  in  1884  and  in 
bringing  about  an  investigation  of  the  Police  Department  and  the 
municipal  government  of  New  York  City  in  the  same  year. 

Prior  to  this  the  old  Tweed  charter  had  vested  in  the  Aldermen  the 
power  of  rejecting  or  accepting  the  Mayor's  appointments.  The  Roose- 
velt bill  took  this  power  from  the  Aldermen.  The  Roosevelt  investigation 
of  the  same  year  placed  the  County  Clerk's  office,  which  had  been  reaping 
$82,000  a  year  in  fees,  upon  a  salary,  and  various  other  reforms  were 
effected. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  Mr.  Roosevelt  became  involved  in  a  conflict 
with  the  party  organization  and  defeated  it.  He  did  it  so  thoroughly  that 


274  WILLIAM    Me  KIN  LEY. 

his  own  delegates  were  sent  to  the  County,  State  and  National  Conventions 
of  1884.  That  was  the  year  James  G.  Elaine  desired  to  be  President. 
Mr.  Roosevelt  escaped  the  Elaine  contagion  and  took  the  New  York  dele- 
gation away  from  that  statesman. 

He  formed  a  combination  between  the  Arthur  and  Edmunds  men 
and  defeated  the  Elaine  following.  He  was  sent  to  the  Chicago  conven- 
tion with  Andrew  D.  White,  George  William  Curtis  and  a  number  of 
other  famous  men. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  never  left  the  Republican  party,  but  he  has  always  felt 
that  upon  a  question  of  principle  he  was  bound  to  act  upon  his  own  judg- 
ment. He  has  held  that  city  politics  should  be  divorced  from  those  of 
the  State  and  the  Nation ;  that  politics  is  not  a  grab  game  for  spoils,  but 
a  dignified,  honorable  science  to  be  unselfishly  pursued ;  and  yet  he  recog- 
nizes the  fact  that,  in  order  to  do  good  work  in  politics,  one  must  work 
with  his  party,  which  is  to  say,  with  the  organization.  As  a  legislator,  he 
was  a  sore  spot  to  "machine"  partisans  or  men  of  corrupt  inclinations. 

In  1886,  though  leading  what  was  regarded  as  a  "forlorn  hope,"  he 
was  nominated  for  Mayor  of  New  York  City,  but  was  defeated  by  Abram 
S.  Hewitt,  the  strongest  man  the  Democrats  could  select.  This  brought 
him  into  the  public  eye  of  the  Nation,  and  his  political  opponents  then,  as 
now,  freely  admitted  that  his  life  and  public  career  had  been  irreproach- 
ably correct ;  that  he  is  a  splendid  statesman,  masterful,  God-fearing,  far- 
sighted — the  true  American  citizen. 

He  was  appointed  a  member  of  the  National  Civil  Service  Commis- 
sion in  May,  1889,  by  President  Harrison.  He  served  until  1895,  using 
every  effort  to  apply  the  merit  system  justly  to  all  executive  departments. 
His  work  and  zeal  here  showed  the  country  the  first  practical  application 
of  these  rules  to  civil  government.  He  stood  unflinchingly  at  all  times 
for  civil  service  reform,  honestly  applied. 

He  became  President  of  the  New  York  Board  of  Police  Commission- 
ers in  1895,  and  here  his  work  brought  him  to  the  attention  of  the  entire 
country.  The  investigation  conducted  by  the  State  Assembly  at  his 
request  had  shown  the  corruption  existing  in  the  police  circles  of  New 
York,  and  he  at  once  set  about  to  secure  an  uncompromising  enforcement 
of  the  laws.  He  was  criticised  and  slandered,  but  he  persisted  in  his 
course. 

He  carried  the  day,  and  honest  methods  in  the  Police  Department 
were  instituted  for  the  first  time  in  years.  He  traveled  beats  at  night  to 
secure  evidence  on  which  he  based  his  demands  for  changes.  There 
were  fewer  crimes  than  ever  before,  and  Sunday  closing  of  saloons  became 


Theodore  Roosevelt 
President  of  the  United  States 


WILLIAM    Me  KIN  LEY.  279 

a  fact — all  this  through  the  courage  and  aggressiveness  of  Theodore 
Roosevelt. 

In  1892  Mr.  Roosevelt  published  his  "History  of  the  Naval  War  in 
1812."  This  work  showed  how  well  equipped  he  was  for  the  task  of 
weighing  documentary  evidence,  and  it  was  this  fact  that  Secretary  Long 
of  the  Navy  Department  had  in  mind  when  Theodore  Roosevelt  was  ten- 
dered the  post  of  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy. 

On  May  6,  1898,  he  resigned  this  position  and  organized  the  "Rough 
Riders,"  for  which  his  life  in  the  Northwest  had  so  splendidly  fitted  him. 
He  had  seen  military  service,  too,  in  the  New  York  National  Guard  in  the 
'8os.  He  was  made  Lieutenant  Colonel  of  the  command,  and  on  June  15 
sailed  to  Cuba  with  General  Shafter's  army. 

His  deeds  at  San  Juan,  where  his  horse  was  shot  under  him,  are  too 
well  known  to  be  reviewed.  On  July  I  ith  he  was  commissioned  Colonel  of 
his  regiment. 

Two  months  later  he  was  nominated  for  Governor  of  New  York  and 
elected  with  a  plurality  of  18,000.  As  a  State  executive  he  carried  his 
earnestness,  courage  and  determination  in  his  every  act. 

Theodore  Roosevelt,  like  President  McKinley,  is  a  "home  man."  He 
has  been  twice  married.  His  first  wife  was  Alice  Lee  of  Boston,  who  left 
a  daughter.  In  1886  he  married  Miss  Edith  Kermit  Carow  of  New 
York,  and  they  have  five  children,  three  boys  and  two  girls. 

At  the  Republican  Convention  in  the  spring  of  1900  he  was  given  the 
nomination  of  Vice-President  by  the  Republican  party.  He  declared  for  a 
long  time  that  he  did  not  want  it,  as  the  position  would  not  give  him 
an  opportunity  for  the  activity  he  wished.  No  other  man  could  be  found, 
however,  who  was  satisfactory.  He  was  nominated  by  a  unanimous  vote 
and  accepted. 

He  worked  strenuously  during  the  campaign.  He  was  the  only  one 
of  the  Republican  ticket  who  made  a  tour.  He  spoke  all  over  the  country, 
in  the  East  and  West,  and  won. 

CHRONOLOGY  OF  THEODORE  ROOSEVELT. 

October  7,  1858—6001,  New  York  City. 

June,  1880 — Graduated  from  Harvard  University. 

November,  1881 — Elected  State  Assemblyman  and  served  during  the 
sessions  of  1882,  1883  and  1884. 

1886 — Nominated  for  Mayor  of  New  York  City. 

May,  1889 — Appointed  to  the  United  States  Civil  Service  Commis- 
sion by  President  Harrison. 


280  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

1895 — President  New  York  Police  Commissioners. 

1897 — Appointed  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy  by  President  Mc- 
Kinley. 

1898 — Resigned  from  the  Navy  Department  and  organized  the 
"Rough  Riders."  Commissioned  Lieutenant  Colonel. 

July  i,  1898 — Led  the  "Rough  Riders"  in  the  charge  up  San  Juan 
Hill.  Advanced  to  the  rank  of  Colonel. 

November,  1898 — Elected  Governor  of  New  York. 

June  21,  1900— Nominated  for  Vice-President  of  the  United  States. 

November  6, 1900 — Elected  Vice-President  of  the  United  States. 

March  4,  1901 — Inaugurated  Vice-President  of  the  United  States. 

President  McKinley's  successor,  at  the  time  of  his  assuming  the 
duties  of  the  Presidency,  figured  in  almost  as  many  stories  as  Lincoln 
himself. 

PRESIDENT  ROOSEVELT  IN  THE  PULPIT. 

The  new  President  appeared  on  the  political  stump  times  without 
number,  but  only  once  or  twice,  so  far  as  recorded,  did  he  appear  in  the 
pulpit.  This  was  in  Chicago  early  in  1901.  Mr.  Roosevelt  was  a  personal 
friend  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Moerdyke  of  the  Trinity  Reformed  Church,  440 
South  Marshfield  Avenue. 

"Come  and  preach  to  us  some  Sunday,"  wrote  the  preacher  several 
months  previous  to  Mr.  Roosevelt.  "I  will  fill  your  pulpit  the  next  time 
I  am  in  Chicago,"  was  the  reply.  He  arrived  in  Chicago  on  Saturday, 
and  the  next  day,  accompanied  by  Colonel  J.  H.  Strong,  he  drove  to 
Trinity  to  keep  his  promise.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Moerdyke  was  in  the  act  of 
announcing  a  hymn  when  the  then  Vice-President  and  Colonel  Strong 
entered  the  church.  They  took  front  seats.  The  reading  of  the  hymn 
was  postponed  and  the  preacher  stepped  down  from  the  pulpit  to  greet 
his  guests.  A  minute  later  the  minister  returned  to  the  pulpit  and  an- 
nounced that  his  regular  sermon  on  "Christian  Statesmen"  would  be 
postponed  and  that  Vice-President  Roosevelt  would  preach. 

"There  is  one  thing  I  admire  about  Colonel  Roosevelt  more  than  all 
others,"  he  continued;  "he  is  a  man  of  his  word."  The  Vice-President 
did  not  preach  doctrine,  but  he  did  deliver  a  lay  sermon  on  "Be  ye  doers 
of  the  word,  not  hearers  only,"  that  was  listened  to  with  the  closest  atten- 
tion. The  afternoon  of  the  same  day  he  addressed  the  Gideons  at  the 
First  Methodist  Church,  and  was  elected  an  honorary  member  of  the  asso- 
ciation. 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  281 

"COME  TO  MY  OFFICE  TO-MORROW." 

While  a  Police  Commissioner  in  New  York  City,  Mr.  Roosevelt 
did  not  depend  on  the  reports  of  his  subordinates  to  learn  whether  his 
orders  were  being  obeyed  and  that  the  reforms  he  recommended  were 
being  carried  out,  but  pursued  the  simple,  effective  method  of  personally 
visiting  the  patrolmen  of  the  force  on  their  beats  at  night. 

On  one  of  these  trips  he  found  two  policemen  drinking  in  a  saloon. 
"Is  this  the  way  you  do  your  duty?"  he  asked,  quietly.  Neither  of  the 
officers  had  seen  the  Commissioner  before  and  they  took  him  for  some 
prying  stranger. 

"What's  that  to  you  ?"  replied  one  of  the  men.  "Get  out  of  here  or 
we  will  throw  you  out." 

Mr.  Roosevelt  did  not  get  out.  Nor  did  he  lose  his  temper.  He 
replied  in  the  same  quiet  voice:  "No,  I  will  not  go  out.  I  am  Police 
Commissioner  Roosevelt,  and  I  am  looking  for  men  like  you  who  do  not 
obey  my  orders.  Come  to  my  office  tomorrow." 

The  men  apologized,  but  it  was  of  no  use.  They  called  at  the  Com- 
missioner's office  the  next  day  and  were  reduced. 

On  another  of  these  incognito  tours  he  saw  one  policeman  capture 
a  dangerous  burglar  and  another  risk  his  life  to  save  a  family  from  a 
burning  building.  The  Commissioner  did  what  he  could  to  help  in  both 
cases,  and  when  the  work  was  over  he  thanked  the  men  personally  for 
their  bravery  and  invited  them  to  call  at  his  office.  When  they  called  they 
were  again  praised  and  thanked  and  notified  that  they  had  been  promoted. 

His  IDEA  OF  AN  HONEST  COWBOY. 

Mr.  Roosevelt's  ideas  of  honesty  were  well  illustrated  in  the  follow- 
ing story.  It  was  during  the  time  he  conducted  a  cattle  ranch  in  Wyom- 
ing. Riding  about  his  ranch  one  day  he  noticed  a  maverick  from  a  neigh- 
bor's ranch.  A  maverick  is  a  beast  which  has  not  been  branded.  One  of 
his  cowboys  began  to  tumble  the  maverick  over,  preparatory  to  branding 
it,  when  the  following  colloquy  occurred : 

Roosevelt — What  are  you  doing? 

Rustler — Oh,  I  am  just  rustling. 

Roosevelt — Are  you  going  to  put  my  brand  on  that  maverick  ? 

Rustler — Yes. 

Roosevelt — You  go  up  to  the  ranchhouse  and  get  your  time  tonight. 
I  don't  want  to  have  anything  to  do  with  you.  If  you  will  steal  for  me 
you  will  steal  from  me. 


282  WIL'LIAM    McKINLEY. 

Too  RIGOROUS  FOR  THE  POLITICIANS. 

His  methods  as  Police  Commissioner,  however,  were  entirely  too 
rigorous  to  suit  the  politicians.  He  enlisted  a  regiment  of  enemies  and 
his  life  was  threatened.  The  sensational  newspapers  attacked  him  with 
bitter  malice,  a  part  even  of  his  own  board  was  against  him,  but  he  never 
wavered.  He  did  his  duty  as  he  saw  it,  and  refused  to  be  influenced  by 
any  ulterior  considerations. 

When  the  leading  papers  and  influential  citizens  entered  their  pro- 
tests, the  characteristic  Roosevelt  answer  came:  "I  am  placed  here  to 
enforce  the  law  as  I  find  it.  I  shall  enforce  it.  If  you  don't  like  the  law, 
repeal  it." 

Do  THE  BEST  You  CAN. 

Julian  Ralph  once  asked  Mr.  Roosevelt :  "What  did  you  expect  to 
be  or  dream  of  being  when  you  were  a  boy  ?" 

"I  do  not  recollect  that  I  dreamed  at  all  or  planned  at  all,"  he  an- 
swered. "I  simply  obeyed  the  injunction,  'Whatsoever  thy  hand  findeth 
to  do,  do  that  with  all  thy  might,'  so  I  took  up  what  came  along  as  it 
came.  Since  then  I  have  gone  on  Lincoln's  motto:  'Do  the  best;  if  not, 
then  the  best  possible.'  " 

HE  TOOK  THAT  YOUNG  MAN. 

When  Colonel  Roosevelt  set  out  to  raise  a  regiment  of  rough  riders 
he  decided  that  he  would  make  sure  that  every  man  enlisted  possessed 
not  only  nerve  but  staying  qualities  as  well.  His  experience  with  one 
young  Westerner  is  a  type  of  several.  The  young  man  was  strong  and 
husky  enough,  but  there  was  a  look  in  his  face  that  the  Colonel  took  to 
be  one  lacking  a  continuity  of  purpose.  He  told  the  would-be  recruit  that 
the  ranks  were  practically  full  and  that  he  could  not  enlist  him.  The 
next  day  the  young  man  returned  to  repeat  his  request  to  be  enlisted. 
Again  he  was  turned  down.  This  proceeding  was  repeated  for  a  week, 
the  Western  youth  never  missing  a  day  at  the  recruiting  headquarters. 
The  pertinacity  of  the  boy  finally  interested  the  Colonel. 

"What  did  you  say  your  name  was  ?"  asked  Roosevelt  on  the  eighth 
visit. 

"Henry  Johnson." 

"Where  do  you  come  from  ?" 

"Iowa." 

"You  want  to  enlist  as  a  rough  rider?" 

"I  do." 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  283 

"How  did  you  get  here?" 

"I  walked  some  of  the  distance,  stole  rides  part  of  the  way,  and  paid 
my  fare  as  far  as  possible." 

"Can  you  ride  a  horse?" 

"Yes." 

"And  shoot?" 

"Yes." 

"Well,  you  are  the  kind  of  men  we  are  looking  for.  I  did  not  like 
your  appearance  at  first,  but  any  man  who  will  show  as  much  zeal  trying 
to  get  into  the  army  deserves  to  be  enlisted." 

His  OPINION  OF  TRUE  AMERICANISM. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  was  once  asked  for  an  opinion  on  what  he  termed 
true  Americanism.  The  reply,  which  he  incorporated  in  one  of  his  books, 
is  as  follows : 

"I  have  no  wish  to  excuse  or  hide  our  faults,  for  I  hold  that  he 
is  often  the  best  American  who  strives  hardest  to  correct  American  short- 
comings Nevertheless,  I  am  just  as  little  disposed  to  give  way  to  undue 
pessimism  as  to  undue  and  arrogant  optimism.  In  speaking  of  my  own 
countrymen,  there  is  one  point  upon  which  I  wish  to  lay  special  stress; 
that  is  the  necessity  for  a  feeling  of  broad,  radical,  intense  Americanism 
if  good  work  is  to  be  done  in  any  direction.  Above  all,  the  one  essential 
for  success  in  every  political  movement  which  is  to  do  lasting  good  is  that 
our  citizens  should  act  as  Americans ;  not  as  Americans  with  a  prefix 
and  qualification — not  as  Irish-Americans,  German-Americans,  native 
Americans — but  as  Americans  pure  and  simple. 

TOOK  A  KEEN  INTEREST  IN  YOUNG  MEN. 

A  young  man  himself,  President  Roosevelt  took  a  keen  interest  in 
other  young  men  and  is  always  ready  with  words  of  advice  or  encourage- 
ment. This  is  what  he  once  wrote  to  a  New-Yorker : 

"First  and  foremost,  be  American,  heart  and  soul,  and  go  in  with 
any  person,  heedless  of  anything  but  that  person's  qualifications.  For  my- 
self, I'd  as  quickly  work  beside  Pat  Dugan  as  with  the  last  descendant  of 
a  patroon ;  it  literally  makes  no  difference  to  me  so  long  as  the  work  is 
good  and  the  man  is  in  earnest.  One  other  thing  I'd  like  to  teach  the 
young  man  of  wealth :  That  he  who  has  not  got  wealth  owes  his  first  duty 
to  his  family,  but  he  who  has  means  owes  his  first  duty  to  his  State.  It  is 
ignoble  to  try  to  heap  money  on  money.  I  would  preach  the  doctrine  of 
work  to  all,  and  to  the  men  of  wealth  the  doctrine  or  unremunerative 
work." 


284  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

NOT  AFRAID  TO  SHAKE  HANDS. 

As  Colonel  Roosevelt  was  walking  up  Delaware  Avenue  in  Buffalo 
one  day  just  after  President  McKinley  was  shot,  he  passed  an  ancient 
negro  raking  leaves  out  of  the  grass  between  the  sidewalk  and  the  curb. 
The  negro  took  off  his  hat  and  bowed  low. 

"Please,  sir,  Mr.  Roosevelt,"  he  said,  "I'd  like  to  shake  hands  with 
you,  sir." 

As  he  grasped  the  Vice-President's  outstretched  hand  he  added: 

"Look  out  they  don't  get  you,  Mr.  Vice-President." 

"Thank  you,"  said  Colonel  Roosevelt  and  started  on. 

Two  men  in  overalls  had  stopped  to  watch  his  meeting  with  the 
negro,  and  as  he  turned  to  go  on  they  stepped  up  to  him,  too,  with  their 
hands  stretched  out. 

The  Colonel  shook  hands  with  them  both  and  thanked  them  for  their 
greetings. 

"Ain't  you  afraid  when  a  fellow  comes  up  to  you  in  the  street  like 
this  ?"  asked  one  of  them. 

"Not  a  bit  of  it,  sir,"  replied  Colonel  Roosevelt,  with  all  his  usual 
energy  of  utterance,  "and  I  hope  the  time  will  never  come  when  an  officer 
of  this  Government  will  be  afraid  to  meet  his  fellow-citizens  in  the  street. 
The  people  of  this  country,  all  the  people,  are  the  guardians  of  the  men 
they  have  elected  to  public  office.  If  anything,  the  lives  of  the  officers  of 
the  Government  are  safer  now  than  before  that  thing  was  done  at  the 
Exposition  the  other  day.  Tell  me,"  he  asked,  with  a  smile  which  showed 
his  confidence  that  he  would  get  a  negative  answer,  "did  it  ever  occur  to 
either  of  you  that  violence  would  do  any  of  our  people  any  good  ?" 

GREW  TO  BE  A  BIG  BOY. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  as  a  boy  was  quite  frail  and  puny.  He  was  well  along 
in  his  teens  before  his  family  ceased  to  worry  about  him.  Once  in  col- 
lege, however,  he  took  to  athletic  sports  as  closely  as  he  did  to  his  books 
and  was  soon  a  strong,  healthy  young  man.  His  ranch  life,  after  leaving 
college,  still  further  developed  him  until  he  became  as  rugged  and  endur- 
ing as  a  man  born  and  raised  on  the  plains.  Mr.  Roosevelt  was  specially 
fond  of  boxing  during  his  college  days — the  same  as  his  boys  were — 
and  always  kept  in  practice.  During  his  term  as  Governor  he  also 
took  instructions  in  wrestling.  William  Carlin,  one  of  the  best  known 
athletes  in  New  York  and  at  one  time  a  famous  oarsman,  was  his  teacher. 

"He  is  a  doughty  little  man,"  said  Mr.  Carlin  one  day  after  an  hour 
in  the  gymnasium  with  the  Governor,  "and  can  give  any  man  plenty  of 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  285 

exercise.  The  Governor  likes  the  catch-as-catch-can  game  and  is  as  quick 
as  a  flash  in  getting  his  holds,  but  he  still  clings  to  the  favorite  Western 
style  of  wrestling — cross  buttocks — and  it  is  a  hold  that  he  uses  most 
dexterously." 

WAS  A  FIGHTER  BY  NATURE. 

Roosevelt  was  by  nature  a  fighter.     He  had  all  the  stubborn  tenacity 

that  was  inherited  with  his  Dutch  blood,  coupled  with  almost  a  Celtic 

willingness  to  combat  any  one  or  anything,  anyhow  or  anywhere  he 

deemed  proper  and  necessary.    When  he  fought  against  two  parties  to 

push  through  the  bills  giving  Controller  Coler  the  right  to  pass  upon 

prices  paid  by  departments  for  goods  purchased  and  supervision  in  the 

confession  of  judgments  the  leaders  of  his  party  came  to  him  and  said : 

"Governor,  you  are  building  up  a  powerful  rival  to  you  for  next  fall." 

"Maybe  so,"  he  replied,  "but  he  is  right  and  he's  going  to  have  those 

bills  if  I  can  get  them  through  for  him."    And  he  got  them  through. 

FEW  MUST  GIVE  WAY  TO  MANY. 

Again,  two  of  his  best  friends  in  the  Legislature,  Speaker  Nixon  and 
Leader  Allds,  came  to  him  and  begged  him  not  to  force  through  the  canal 
bill. 

"It  is  suicide  to  do  it,"  they  pleaded,  "for  it  will  lose  votes  for  you 
among  the  farmers  and  in  the  districts  that  elected  you.  It  is  ungrateful 
and  extremely  bad  politics." 

Roosevelt  appreciated  their  argument  and  did  not  say  they  were 
wrong  in  presenting  it.  He  simply  shook  his  head  and  said :  "You  are 
right,  but  this  is  a  case  where  the  few  must  give  way  for  the  benefit  of 
the  many.  I  realize  that  it  seems  unjust  to  the  farmers  to  be  taxed  for 
improvements  that  will  bring  produce  from  the  West  to  compete  with 
them,  but  the  whole  State  must  be  considered,  and  this  is  in  line  with 
commercial  progress.  It  must  go  through."  And  it  went  through. 

"BE  MEN,  AND  I  WANT  YOUR  ADVICE." 

While  Roosevelt  admired  independence,  he  believed  in  organization, 
because  he  had  the  instincts  of  a  soldier.  But  he  was  not  a  martinet, 
and  had  no  faith  in  men  who  have  not  minds  of  their  own/  It  was  to 
Assemblymen  Price  and  Morgan  of  Brooklyn,  two  young  legislators  to 
whom  he  took  a  great  fancy,  that  he  said  at  the  beginning  of  a  session  of 
the  New  York  Legislature :  "If  you  choose  to  be  cattle  I  must  consult  your 
driver.  Be  men,  and  I  want  your  advice." 


286  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

EXCITING  EXPERIENCE  IN  THE  WEST. 

One  of  the  most  exciting  of  President  Roosevelt's  many  experiences 
in  the  West  was  at  Victor,  Colo.,  in  1900,  during  the  Presidential  cam- 
paign. Roosevelt  was  making  a  trip  through  the  West  and  stopped  at 
Victor  to  make  a  speech.  As  he  was  walking  from  his  train  to  the 
meeting  hall  an  attempt  was  made  by  a  band  of  toughs  to  strike  him 
down.  One  man  hit  him  on  the  breast  with  a  piece  of  scantling  six  feet 
long  from  which  an  insulting  Democratic  banner  had  been  torn.  Another 
rough  aimed  a  blow  at  the  Colonel's  head  and  was  ridden  down  by  a 
miner  named  Holley. 

When  the  fighting  was  all  over  Roosevelt  exclaimed  enthusiastically : 
"This  is  bully,  this  is  magnificent.  Why,  it's  the  best  time  I've  had  since 
I  started.  I  wouldn't  have  missed  it  for  anything." 

How  HE  SHOT  THE  LION. 

One  of  Roosevelt's  most  thrilling  lion  hunts  took  place  while  he  was 
stopping  at  the  Keystone  Ranch  in  Colorado  in  April,  1901.  Roosevelt 
and  his  guide  held  at  bay  a  large  lion  in  a  crevice  on  the  precipitous  side 
of  a  rock  ledge  which  extended  from  the  point  of  the  crevice  sheer  down 
sixty  feet.  Roosevelt  shot  at  the  lion,  but  it  was  dusk  and  the  beast  dis- 
appeared under  the  rim  of  a  perpendicular  wall  of  rocks.  A  large  rock 
stood  loosely  on  the  rim  of  the  ledge,  and  the  men  saw  that  if  it  were 
possible  to  hang  head-first  over  this  rock  he  would  see  the  lion  and  might 
be  able  to  shoot  at  it. 

"The  question,"  said  the  guide  afterwards,  "which  confronted  us  was, 
How  is  it  to  be  done?  Finally,  Colonel  Roosevelt  stood  still  a  minute, 
looked  at  me  intently,  and  said:  'Goff,  we  must  have  that  lion  if  he  is 
there.  I'll  tell  you  what  I'll  do.  I  will  take  my  gun  and  crawl  over  that 
rock ;  you  hold  me  by  the  feet  and  allow  me  to  slide  down  far  enough  to 
see  him.  If  I  can  see  him  I  will  get  him.'  This  plan  was  carried  out  and 
he  killed  the  lion  hanging  head  downward  while  I  held  him  by  his  feet." 

"Wfio  WAS  LINCOLN?" 

President  Roosevelt  was  succeeded  on  the  National  Civil  Service 
Commission  by  John  B.  Harlow  of  St.  Louis.  Mr.  Harlow  has  in  his 
office  many  mementos  of  Mr.  Roosevelt's  regime,  one  of  the  most  inter- 
esting of  which  is  a  defense  of  the  civil  service  examinations  by  Roose- 
velt, given  before  one  of  the  State  committees. 

PvOosevelt  was  answering  the  assertion  that  the  examinations  were  not 


Mrs.  Roosevelt 


A  Corner  of  the  Library  of  President  Roosevelt's  Home 


The  Room  in  the  Wilcox  Residence  where  President  Roosevelt 
Took  the  Oath  of  Office 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  287 

fair  tests  of  a  man's  knowledge  and  intellectual  attainments.  To  the  com- 
mittee he  said,  with  the  directness  and  force  which  give  him  much  of  his 
fame,  that  the  examinations  did  indicate  the  fund  of  information  pos- 
sessed by  applicants,  -and  he  immediately  cited  examples  of  the  answers 
made  to  the  question,  "Who  was  Lincoln?"  in  an  examination  conducted 
shortly  before  the  time  of  the  Senate  committee's  investigation. 

In  the  answers  it  appears  that  Lincoln  was  a  revolutionary  General ; 
he  was  assassinated  by  Thomas  Jefferson  and  was  the  assassin  of  Aaron 
Burr ;  he  commanded  a  regiment  in  the  French  and  Indian  wars ;  and  was 
an  arctic  explorer  in  a  period  immediately  after  the  Civil  War.  The  de- 
fense of  the  examinations  by  Roosevelt  is  full  of  such  specific  examples, 
showing  that  he  had  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  results  of  the  work 
in  his  office. 

FITNESS  FOR  SPECIAL  LINES  OF  WORK. 

.  It  was  Roosevelt  who  first  introduced  the  form  of  examinations  now 
so  generally  used  by  the  commission  to  discover  the  peculiar  fitness  or 
unfitness  of  applicants  for  special  lines  of  work  to  which  they  are  to  be 
assigned.  It  came  about  in  a  series  of  examinations  in  which  Texas  and 
the  Southwest  were  interested.  It  was  proposed  to  place  the  mounted 
inspectors  of  the  Government  along  the  Rio  Grande,  in  Texas,  under  the 
civil  service  rules.  These  inspectors  are  men  of  rare  courage  and  must 
necessarily  be  skilled  in  handling  cattle,  familiar  with  the  different  kinds 
of  cattle  brands,  and  excellent  horsemen.  They  have  to  deal  with  the 
cattle  rustlers  on  the  Mexican  border. 

Wrhen  Roosevelt  saw  the  questions  which  had  been  prepared  for  these 
men,  bearing  on  history,  rhetoric,  and  mathematics,  he  declared  the  pro- 
posed examinations  would  be  farcical,  and,  calling  to  his  aid  his  own 
familiarity  with  the  cattle  country  and  the  plains,  he  drew  up  a  set  of 
questions  for  the  inspectors.  The  only  intellectual  test  was  that  which 
was  made  by  requiring  a  man  to  answer  the  questions  in  his  own  words 
and  handwriting.  The  questions  were  something  of  a  shock  to  those 
who  had  been  conducting  the  examinations  in  accordance  with  the  old 
methods.  One  of  the  questions  the  men  had  to  answer  was  this : 

"State  the  experience,  if  any,  you  have  had  as  a  marksman  with  a 
rifle  or  a  pistol ;  whether  or  not  you  have  practiced  shooting  at  a  target 
with  either  weapon,  or  at  game  or  other  moving  objects ;  and  also  whether 
you  have  practiced  shooting  on  horseback.  State  the  make  of  the  rifle 
and  revolver  you  ordinarily  use." 

Another  of  the  questions  read  this  way: 


288  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

"State  fully  what  experience  you  have  had  in  horsemanship ;  whether 
or  not  you  can  ride  unbroken  horses ;  if  not,  whether  you  would  be  able, 
unassisted,  to  rope,  bridle,  saddle,  mount,  and  ride  an  ordinary  cow  pony 
after  it  had  been  turned  loose  for  six  months ;  also  whether  you  can  ride 
an  ordinary  cow  pony  on  the  roundup,  both  in  circle  riding  and  in  cutting- 
out  work  around  the  herd." 

Another  question  which  Mr.  Roosevelt  framed  was  as  to  technical 
knowledge  of  the  different  brands  of  cattle  in  the  cattle  country,  and  it 
would  be  unintelligible  to  any  but  a  cattle  man  or  Roosevelt.  When  he 
submitted  the  question  to  his  colleagues  he  declared  that,  to  be  a  success- 
ful Government  inspector  and  shoot  lawless  Mexicans  and  prevent  the 
"running"  of  cattle  over  the  border,  it  was  not  necessary  for  a  man  to 
discuss  the  nebular  hypothesis  nor  to  have  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the 
name  and  number  of  inhabitants  of  the  capital  of  Zanzibar. 

In  all  sincerity,  he  told  his  colleagues  that  he  would  like  to  make 
another  requirement,  and  that  was  that  each  applicant  be  made  to  appear 
before  those  in  charge  of  the  examinations  and  lasso,  throw,  and  tie  a 
steer  in  twenty  minutes,  but  as  he  himself  did  not  have  time  to  preside  at 
such  feature  of  the  examination  he  had  left  that  out.  That  was  the  begin- 
ning of  the  practical  methods  of  examinations  by  the  Civil  Service  Com- 
mission which  have  been  followed  up  by  Mr.  Harlow  and  his  colleagues 
on  the  commission  until  the  scholastic  element  in  the  examinations  has 
disappeared  almost  entirely,  and  they  are  now  designed  solely  to  establish 
the  practical  fitness  that  applicants  have  for  the  lines  of  work  to  which  they 
are  to  be  assigned. 

PRESIDENT  ROOSEVELT'S  FAMILY. 

President  Roosevelt  has  (1901)  a  most  interesting  family.  It  con- 
sists of  his  wife  and  six  children.  The  eldest  of  the  Roosevelt  children 
is  Alice,  aged  17,  and  the  youngest  is  Quentin,  aged  4.  Between  these 
are  Theodore,  Jr.,  aged  14;  Kermit,  aged  12;  Ethel,  aged  10,  and  Archi- 
bald, aged  7.  Alice  was  the  only  child  by  Mr.  Roosevelt's  first  wife,  who 
died  three  years  after  her  marriage. 

Men  elected  to  the  Presidency  of  the  United  States  are  generally  past 
the  meridian  of  life,  and,  as  a  natural  consequence,  their  children  are 
grown  up.  This  has,  as  a  rule,  confined  the  occupants  of  the  White  House 
to  adults,  except  where  there  have  been  grandchildren.  There  have  been 
exceptions,  however. 

The  White  House  during  President  Lincoln's  term  of  office  was  made 
cheerful  by  the  presence  of  the  President's  youngest  son,  Tad.  President 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  289 

Johnson's  children — two  daughters — were  both  married  by  the  time  he 
became  head  of  the  nation,  but  his  three  grandchildren,  children  of  Mrs. 
Daniel  Stover,  lived  with  him  throughout  his  occupancy  of  the  Executive 
Mansion. 

During  General  Grant's  term  the  only  children  in  the  family  were 
those  of  General  Fred  Grant  and  Mrs.  Sartoris,  but  they  were  only  occa- 
sional visitors  at  the  White  House. 

During  President  Hayes'  term  the  Executive  Mansion  was  quiet,  for 
his  children  were  all  grown.  President  Garfield  had  a  large  family,  and 
during  his  occupancy  of  the  Executive  Mansion  it  was  ever  bright  with 
the  faces  of  happy  children.  President  Arthur  was  a  widower  and  not 
until  President  Cleveland's  second  term  of  office  were  children's  voices 
again  heard  in  the  White  House. 

"Baby"  McKee,  a  grandson,  made  things  lively  during  President 
Harrison's  term,  but  the  mansion  was  comparatively  quiet  during  the 
five  years  Mr.  and  Mrs.  McKinley  occupied  it.  There  were  no  little  chil- 
dren in  President  McKinley's  immediate  family.  The  White  House  was 
not  desolate  during  the  McKinley  occupancy,  however,  for  the  reason 
that  some  of  the  President's  nieces  were  generally  there. 

With  the  entry  of  the  Roosevelt  family  the  old  mansion  was  more 
cheerful  than  at  any  time  since  the  Garfields  lived  there.  The  Roosevelt 
children  comprised  as  bright  and  interesting  a  sextette  as  were  to  be 
found  in  any  home  in  America.  They  were  all  strong  and  rugged  and, 
like  their  father,  full  of  activity. 

The  family  life  of  President  Roosevelt  was,  up  to  the  time  of  his 
entering  the  White  House,  closed  to  the  newspapers.  The  President  him- 
self appeared  to  be  as  radically  opposed  as  his  wife  to  anything  in  the 
least  like  a  parade  of  his  domestic  virtues  or  the  juvenile  charms  of  his 
children  for  the  admiration  of  the  world  that  reads  and  looks  at  pictures. 
During  his  term  as  Governor  of  New  York  President  Roosevelt  put  him- 
self on  record  with  an  indignant  and  forcible  protest  against  the  indecency 
of  a  man  with  a  camera  who  intruded  upon  the  privacy  of  his  home  at 
Oyster  Bay. 

This  reticence  might  not  be  exactly  what  one  would  expect  of  a  man 
whose  life  and  standards  of  conduct  are  generally  accepted  as  being  of 
the  West  Western ;  but  President  Roosevelt  was  only  Western  in  affairs 
of  broncos,  lariats,  and  firearms;  in  his  home  he  was  always  a  Roose- 
velt, with  the  dignified  and  delicate  domestic  ethics  of  old  Dutch  New 
York. 

"I  could  not  tell  you  much  about  the  Roosevelt  children,  however 


290  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

much  I  might  want  to,"  said  an  intimate  friend  of  the  family  recently, 
"because  I  see  little  of  them,  although  I  visit  the  home  frequently.  It's 
like  this:  Mr.  Roosvelt  always  has  something  he  wants  to  talk  to  you 
about,  and  he  starts  with  it  as  soon  as  he  catches  you,  and,  while  you  are 
there  he  does  not  want  to  be  bothered  with  the  children.  When  he  wants 
a  romp  with  his  children  he  does  not  want  to  be  interrupted  by  his  friends. 
That  is  the  whole  case  in  a  nutshell." 

Evidently  the  new  President's  children  were  being  brought  up  under 
a  commendably  old-fashioned  regime,  in  accordance  with  the  old  English 
rule  that  "children  should  be  seen  and  not  heard."  Mrs.  Roosevelt  on 
several  occasions  plainly  expressed  her  disapprobation  of  anything  which 
would  have  a  tendency  to  make  her  children  think  themselves  of  any 
importance  to  the  public.  That  they  profited  by  this  sensible  view  of  their 
position  was  evident  .to  all  who  have  come  in  contact  with  them,  whether 
at  Washington  or  at  their  country  home  on  Long  Island. 

These  children,  of  whom  the  public  would  have  liked  to  hear  so  much, 
and  of  whom,  for  reasons  which  the  public  was  bound  to  respect,  there 
was  so  little  to  tell,  were  all  born  in  New  York.  There  was  a  significance 
about  their  given  names,  which  were  not  chosen  for  them  at  a  venture 
or  culled  out  of  the  pages  of  popular  novels.  Theodore  explains  itself — 
the  third  Roosevelt  of  that  name  in  direct  succession,  beginning  with 
Theodore,  the  merchant  and  importer  of  glassware,  father  of  the  new 
President.  Kermit  one  might  suppose  to  be  some  ancient  Dutch  name, 
taken  from  the  remote  history  of  the  Roosevelts ;  remote  its  origin  may  be, 
but  it  is  Manx,  not  Dutch-Celtic,  nor  Teutonic — commemorating  its  bear- 
er's descent  from  an  ancestor  in  that  quaint  isle,  and  starting  him  in  life 
with  one  presumably  unique  possession. 

Of  the  rest,  Archibald's  first  and  second  names  both  connect  him 
with  the  Scottish  ancestry,  the  Bulloch  family,  which  settled  in  the 
Southern  States  and  is  still  as  well  known  in  Dixie  as  it  was  in  the  days 
of  the  Confederacy,  when  one  of  its  members  fired  the  last  gun  on  board 
Semmes'  Alabama.  The  fiery  Huguenot  strain  is  duly  honored  in  the 
baby,  Quentin.  Kermit  received  his  name  from  the  mother's  side  of  the 
house,  Mrs.  Roosevelt  having  been  born  Edith  Kermit  Carow.  Alice  was 
named  for  her  mother,  the  President's  first  wife,  and  Ethel  for  a  relative. 

It  was  often  remarked  that  President  Roosevelt  lacked  much  of 
being  a  typical  phlegmatic  Dutchman,  and  if  one  looks  a  little  into  his 
family  history  there  is  found  reason  in  plenty  why  the  Dutch  phlegm 
should  have  long  ago  been  countervailed  by  the  successive  admixtures  of 
Celtic  fire  from  French,  British  and  Irish  sources. 


WILLIAM    McKINLEY.  291 

CHANGE  IN  PRESIDENT  ROOSEVELT. 

Theodore  Roosevelt,  who  stepped  from  William  McKinley's  funeral 
train  at  Washington  on  the  i6th  of  September,  1901,  and  followed  the 
bier  to  the  White  House,  was  not  the  Roosevelt  upon  whom  the  people 
have  been  wont  to  feed  so  abundantly  in  the  public  prints. 

It  was  not  the  reckless  cowboy  of  the  plains ;  it  was  not  the  dashing 
Rough  Rider  of  the  Spanish  War,  and  it  was  not  the  mighty  nimrod  whose 
exploits  with  gun  and  knife  were  so  well  known. 

It  was  Theodore  Roosevelt,  President  of  the  United  States  and  sor- 
row-stricken friend  of  him  who  lay  dead. 

Never  was  a  man  so  metamorphosed,  if  outward  indications  count. 
Those  who  had  seen  and  heard  Colonel  Roosevelt  in  those  strenuous 
times  in  the  not  far  distant  past  would  scarcely  have  recognized  this  citi- 
zen in  black  who  made  his  way  unostentatiously  up  the  station  platform. 
He  seemed  to  have  changed  to  another  man  over  night. 

The  alteration  was  so  apparent  that,  as  he  stood  awaiting  the  word 
to  start  for  the  carriage,  persons  who  saw  him  when  last  he  was  in  Wash- 
ington remarked  it.  There  was  still  that  determination  written  on  his 
brow  that  many  have  called  "bulldog  tenacity,"  but  the  suggestion  of 
irresponsible  aggressiveness  that  had  ever  been  a  Roosevelt  characteristic 
was  missing — happily  so,  many  thought.  In  its  place  was  a  dignity  of 
expression  that  well  fitted  the  head  of  eighty  millions  of  people. 

There  was  not  the  slightest  hint  that  he  was  not  fully  master  of  his 
feelings,  but,  for  all  that,  it  was  plain  to  see  that  his  grief  was  sincere  and 
deep-seated. 

A  grave  picture  he  made  as  he  waited  on  the  station  platform.  He 
was  surrounded  by  the  members  of  the  Cabinet  and  other  notables,  but  to 
none  did  he  vouchsafe  a  word.  He  was  clad  in  black  from  head  to  foot — 
high  hat,  turndown  collar,  a  black  tie,  black  cutaway  coat,  black  trousers, 
and  black  shoes.  His  coat  was  buttoned  tight  across  his  breast.  His  hat 
he  held  in  his  hand. 

PRESIDENT  STANDS  WITH  BARED  HEAD. 

As  the  procession  started  towards  the  street  President  Roosevelt 
took  the  arm  of  his  brother-in-law,  Captain  Cowles  of  the  Navy.  The 
latter  was  in  full  dress  uniform  and  his  magnificent  display  of  gold  con- 
trasted strikingly  with  the  somber  attire  of  his  relative. 

Arriving  at  the  Sixth  Street  entrance  of  the  station,  President  Roose- 
velt stepped  back  a  few  steps  and  halted,  facing  towards  Pennsylvania 
Avenue.  Secretary  Hay  was  the  next  in  line.  There  the  Chief  Magis- 


292  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

trate  stood  like  a  sentry  at  his  post,  scarcely  moving  a  muscle,  while  the 
bearers  were  bringing  their  burden  to  the  hearse. 

The  wait  was  fully  five  minutes,  yet  President  Roosevelt  moved  not. 
His  right  arm  was  held  close  to  his  breast,  and  his  hat,  which  he  held  in 
his  right  hand,  was  tilted  at  an  angle. 

Just  the  moment  before  the  bier  appeared  an  incident  occurred  which 
gave  a  fleeting  glimpse  of  old  time  Roosevelt.  A  photographer  had  taken 
his  stand  in  a  window  immediately  opposite  the  station.  Of  a  sudden 
there  was  an  explosion  and  a  flash  of  flame  from  the  window.  The 
horses  attached  to  the  hearse  and  the  carriages  started,  and  the  spectators, 
not  knowing  exactly  what  had  happened,  showed  signs  of  excitement. 

President  Roosevelt's  lips  curled  and  then  his  lower  one  dropped, 
showing  his  teeth.  He  glanced  up  at  the  window  from  which  the  smoke 
was  curling,  spoke  to  the  man  at  his  right  as  if  annoyed,  and  then  spoke 
in  a  low  tone  to  Secretary  Hay.  He  did  not  entirely  recover  his  equanim- 
ity until  the  hearse  appeared. 

As  the  bier  passed  him  he  bowed  his  head  low.  As  soon  as  the  cas- 
ket had  been  placed  in  the  hearse  the  President  moved  towards  his  car- 
riage. 

With  the  President  and  Secretary  Hay  were  Captain  Cowles  and  Sec- 
retary of  the  Treasury  Gage.  The  President  and  the  Secretary  of  State 
sat  with  their  backs  to  the  driver,  Mr.  Roosevelt  being  on  Mr.  Hay's  right. 
Mr.  Roosevelt  sat  well  back  in  the  carriage,  which  was  a  closed  one,  and 
only  at  intervals  did  any  one  in  the  crowds  that  lined  the  sidewalk  catch 
a  glimpse  of  him. 

There  was  a  fanfare  of  trumpets  while  the  carriage  awaited  the  order 
to  start.  It  was  the  signal  for  the  cavalry  to  escort  the  march.  Mr. 
Roosevelt  leaned  forward  in  his  seat  at  the  front  and  closely  scanned  the 
lines  of  uniformed  horses  on  either  side  of  him.  His  eye  ran  over  the 
array  as  if  he  were  sizing  up  the  quality  of  the  horseflesh  and  the  caliber 
of  their  riders. 

THE  TRIP  MADE  IN  SILENCE. 

For  the  most  part  the  trip  to  the  White  House  was  made  in  silence 
by  those  in  the  President's  carriage.  Although  Secretaries  Hay  and  Gage 
were  in  plain  view  of  the  populace,  the  President  sat  back  in  his  seat  to 
avoid  being  recognized.  Knowing  his  aversion  to  anything  approaching 
a  bodyguard,  the  men  who  had  been  detailed  to  look  after  his  safety  staid 
well  in  the  rear  of  the  carriage. 

Nevertheless,  no  man  could  have  reached  the  vehicle  and  fired  a  shot 
at  the  occupants.  He  would  have  been  killed  before  he  had  got  within 


WILLIAM    McKlNLEY.  293 

six  feet  of  the  President.  There  were  nine  detectives  who  watched  the 
carriage.  They  were  made  up  of  secret  service  men  and  local  officers, 
One  of  them  walked  nearer  than  five  feet  of  the  rear  of  the  vehicle. 
George  Foster,  the  secret  service  man  who  was  with  President  McKinley 
when  he  was  shot,  was  right  behind  the  wheel. 

He  held  his  revolver  in  his  right  sleeve,  the  barrel  resting  in  his 
hand.  It  required  a  practiced  eye  to  see  the  weapon,  but  it  was  there.  At 
least  two  other  secret  service  men  were  equally  prepared  for  an  emergency, 
while  Chief  John  E.  Wilkie  was  in  the  carriage  close  behind  the  Presi- 
dent's. 

REMARKS  SIGNS  OF  MOURNING. 

The  first  Government  building  the  President's  party  passed  was  the 
Postoffice  Department.  Just  across  from  it  was  a  newspaper  office,  which 
was  the  most  beautifully  decorated  structure  in  the  city.  From  every  one 
of  its  many  windows  hung  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  with  their  border  of 
mourning,  while  the  front  was  draped  in  deepest  black. 

The  President  looked  at  these  decorations,  which  were  brought  into 
relief  by  the  many  electric  lights  within  the  building,  and  nodded  his 
head  in  satisfaction. 

A  moment  later  his  eye  rested  on  the  Government  building  across  the 
way.  Not  a  sign  of  mourning  for  the  dead  chief  of  the  nation  was  visible. 
The  cold,  gray,  naked  walls  stood  there  in  striking  contrast  to  the  mu- 
nificence of  display  by  a  private  corporation. 

The  President's  brows  knit,  and  he  shook  his  head.  He  indicated  the 
great,  unsympathetic  pile  of  stone  to  his  companions,  and  they,  too,  shook 
their  heads.  The  law,  however,  does  not  allow  the  draping  of  public 
buildings  for  an  official,  not  even  the  President. 

Between  Thirteenth  and  Fourteenth  Streets  the  crowd  gathered  there 
was  more  solemn  if  anything  than  at  any  other  point  along  the  route. 
So  quiet  was  it  that  the  sobbing  of  women  could  be  heard  almost  to  the 
middle  of  the  broad  avenue. 

That  was  all  until  the  White  House  was  reached.  There  the  Presi- 
dent left  his  carriage  and  went  into  the  East  Room,  where  President  Mc- 
Kinley's  body  was  deposited.  He  waited  there  long  enough  to  see  this 
office  performed. 

He  remained  not  more  than  ten  minutes. 

OUTLINE  OF  THE  NEW   PRESIDENT'S   POLICY. 

Before  leaving  Buffalo  for  Washington  President  Roosevelt  outlined 
in  some  detail  the  policy  he  proposed  to  follow  during  his  incumbency 
of  office.  The  President  gathered  together  some  personal  friends  in 


294  WILLIAM    McKINLEY. 

Buffalo  and  those  members  of  the  Cabinet  who  were  there  and  gave  to 
them  such  ideas  as  he  had  already  formulated  for  the  conduct  of  public 
affairs  and  his  own  policy. 

In  no  sense  were  the  new  President's  ideas  divergent  from  what  had 
been  understood  as  Mr.  McKinley's  policy.  This  policy,  as  outlined  to  his 
friends  at  the  conference,  was  for  a  more  liberal  and  extensive  reciprocity 
in  the  purchase  and  sale  of  commodities,  so  that  the  overproduction  of 
this  country  could  be  disposed  of  satisfactorily  by  fair  and  equitable 
arrangements  with  foreign  countries ;  the  abolition  entirely  of  commercial 
war  with  other  countries,  and  the  adoption  of  reciprocity  treaties. 

Other  plans  suggested  were : 

The  abolition  of  such  tariffs  on  foreign  goods  as  are  no  longer  needed 
for  revenue,  if  such  abolition  can  be  had  without  harm  to  home  industries 
and  labor. 

Direct  commercial  lines  should  be  established  between  the  eastern 
coast  of  the  United  States  and  the  ports  in  South  America  and  the  Pacific 
coast  ports  of  Mexico,  Central  America  and  South  America. 

The  encouraging  of  the  merchant  marine  and  the  building  of  ships 
which  shall  carry  the  American  flag  and  be  owned  and  controlled  by 
Americans  and  American  capital. 

The  building  and  completion  as  soon  as  possible  of  the  Isthmian 
Canal,  to  give  direct  water  communication  with  the  coasts  of  Central 
America,  South  America,  and  Mexico. 

The  construction  of  a  cable,  owned  by  the  Government,  connecting 
tKe  mainland  with  foreign  possessions,  notably  Hawaii  and  the  Philippines. 

The  use  of  conciliatory  methods  of  arbitration  in  all  disputes  with 
foreign  nations  to  avoid  armed  strife. 

The  protection  of  the  savings  of  the  people  in  banks  and  in  other 
forms  of  investments  by  the  preservation  of  the  commercial  prosperity  of 
the  country,  and  the  placing  in  positions  of  trust  men  of  only  the  highest 
integrity. 


James  Abra.m  Garfield 

(From  a  photograph.    Copyright  by  M.  P.  RICE) 


BOOK    II. 


James  Abram  Garfield, 

The  Oratar-Statesman. 


Born  Orange,  Cuyahoga  County,  O.,  November  19,  1831. 

On  the  tow-path  of  the  canal,  1847. 

Enters  Williams  College,  1854. 

President  of  Hiram  College,  1856. 

Married  to  L,ucretia  Rudolph,  1858. 

Elected  State  Senator,  1859. 

Admitted  to  the  bar,  1860. 

I/teutenaut-Colonel  Forty-second  Ohio  Infantry,  August  14, 1861. 

Promoted  to  Colonel,  November  26,  1861. 

Commands  Brigade  in  Big  Sandy  Canape ign,  1862. 

Made  Brigadier-General,  January  20,  1862. 

Off  to  aid  General  Grant,  April  6,  1862. 

Chief  of  Staff  to  Rosecrans,  January,  1863. 

Fought  at  Chickamauga,  1863. 

Takes  seat  in  Congress,  December,  1863. 

Elected  United  States  Senator,  1880. 

Nominated  for  President,  June  8,  1880. 

Elected  President,  November  2,  1880. 

Shot  by  Charles  J.  Guiteau,  July  2,  1881. 

Died  at  Elberon,  N.  J.,  September  19,  1881. 


BOOK    II, 

James  ^/Ibram     Gar  field, 

15 he  OrcLfor-Sfctfejmctn. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

DETAILS  OF  THE  CRUEL  ASSASSINATION  OF  PRESIDENT  GARFIELD — 
STRICKEN  DOWN  BY  THE  BULLET  FIRED  BY  THE  INSENSATE  ASSASSIN 
GUITEAU  IN  THE  PENNSYLVANIA  DEPOT  AT  WASHINGTON — HlS  SUF- 
FERINGS AND  DEATH. 


President  James  A.  Garfield  was  the  second  of  the  Chief  Magistrates 
of  the  United  States  to  fall  under  the  bullet  of  the  assassin,  his  murder 
being  the  direct  result  of  the  factional  war  raging  within  the  Republican 
party.  The  latter  was  divided  into  two  camps,  "Stalwarts"  and  "Half- 
breeds,"  the  former  representing  the  Grant  element  and  the  latter  those 
who  were  opposed  to  the  nomination  of  the  leader  of  the  armies  of  the 
Union  for  the  third  time  for  the  Presidency. 

This  opposition  brought  about  the  nomination  and  election  of  General 
Garfield,  in  spite  of  the  protest  of  the  latter.  No  sooner  had  General  Gar- 
field  been  settled  in  the  Presidential  chair  than  he  was  compelled  to  recog- 
nize the  fact  that  he  would  have  to  combat  United  States  Senator  Roscoe 
Conkling,  the  champion  of  Grant  at  the  Chicago  convention,  or  submit 
to  the  dictates  of  that  autocrat  of  New  York  politics. 

The  President  had  chosen  for  the  chief  of  his  Cabinet,  for  Secretary 
of  State,  James  G.  Elaine,  Senator  Conkling's  life-long  enemy,  and  as 
soon  as  the  choice  had  been  announced  the  senior  Senator  from  New  York 
virtually  declared  war.  Senator  Conkling  desired  to  control  all  the  New 
York  appointments,  the  particular  bone  of  contention  being  the  selection 
of  the  chief  officer  at  the  port  of  New  York. 

Senator  Conkling  averred  that  the  President  had  agreed  to  appoint  a 
man  satisfactory  to  him,  and  it  was  a  blow  to  him  when  William  H.  Rob- 
ertson was  appointed  and  confirmed  by  the  Senate.  Robertson  was  pecu- 
liarly obnoxious  to  Conkling,  being  the  man  of  all  others  the  New  York 
Senator  did  not  wish  to  have  the  place. 

801 


302  JAMES    ABRAM    GARFIELD. 

Conkling  attributed  the  selection  of  Robertson  to  the  influence  of 
Elaine,  and  was  furious  in  consequence.  He  at  once  resigned  from  the 
Senate,  his  action  being  followed  by  his  colleague,  Thomas  C.  Platt,  and 
appealed  to  the  New  York  Assembly  for  re-election. 

Then  ensued  the  tragedy.  The  entire  country  was  interested  in  the 
controversy,  and  when  the  resignations  of  Conkling  and  Platt  were 
handed  in  the  excitement  attendant  upon  them  was  something  unpar- 
alleled. But  no  one  anticipated  the  tragic  outcome,  this  being  something 
apart  from  and  outside  of  all  human  calculations. 

Everything  was  forgotten  in  the  struggle  between  the  opposing 
powers.  On  the  one  hand  was  the  National  Administration ;  on  the  other 
was  the  kingly,  autocratic  Senator  from  the  Empire  State.  Conkling 
had  been  predominant  during  the  reigns  of  Grant  and  Hayes ;  why  should 
he  not  be  successful  in  the  issue  between  himself  and  Garfield  ? 

Nearly  four  months  from  the  date  of  the  accession  of  President  Gar- 
field  had  passed.  What  was  transpiring  in  the  minds  of  the  people  at 
large  was  a  mystery.  Then  came  the  fatal  2d  of  July.  Nothing  could 
have  been  more  unexpected  than  the  assassination  of  the  head  of  the 
Republic.  The  heavens  might  have  fallen  and  the  people  of  the  United 
States  would  not  have  been  more  surprised. 

President  Garfield  and  Secretary  of  State  Blaine  drove  from  the 
Executive  Mansion,  about  9  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  July  2d,  to  the  depot 
of  the  Baltimore  and  Potomac  Railroad,  where  the  President  was  to  join 
other  members  of  his  Cabinet  and  proceed  on  a  trip  to  New  York  and 
New  England.  As  he  was  walking  through  the  passenger  rooms,  arm 
in  arm  with  Mr.  Blaine,  two  pistol  shots  were  fired  in  quick  succession 
from  behind,  and  the  President  sank  to  the  floor,  bleeding  profusely.  The 
assassin  was  instantly  seized  and  proved  to  be  Charles  Jules  Guiteau,  a 
pettifogging  lawyer  of  Chicago,  who  had  been  an  unsuccessful  applicant 
for  office  under  the  Government,  and  who  had  led  a  precarious  existence 
in  several  of  the  large  cities  of  the  country. 

The  wounded  President  was  conveyed  to  the  office  of  the  railroad  on 
the  second  floor  of  the  depot  building.  Several  physicians  were  soon  in 
attendance,  and  after  an  hour  had  elapsed  it  was  decided  to  remove  him 
to  the  Executive  Mansion,  where  he  was  made  as  comfortable  as  possible. 
His  mind  remained  perfectly  clear  all  day,  notwithstanding  the  desperate 
nature  of  his  injuries,  and  when  his  wife,  who  had  been  summoned  from 
Long  Branch,  arrived  at  his  bedside,  he  was  able  to  converse  with  and 
encourage  her. 

During  the  afternoon  the  physicians  expressed  little  hope  for  the 


/  AM  ES    ABRAM    GARF I  ELD.  303 

President's  recovery,  but  late  in  the  evening  their  bulletins  were  more 
favorable. 

Before  leaving  the  depot  the  President  manifested  some  anxiety  about 
the  effect  of  the  intelligence  of  his  wound  upon  Mrs.  Garfield,  and,  turning 
to  Colonel  Rockwell,  dictated  to  him  the  following  dispatch  to  be  sent  to 
Mrs.  Garfield  at  Long  Branch : 
"Mrs.  Garfield,  Elberon,  N.  J. 

"The  President  wishes  me  to  say  to  you  from  him  that  he  has  been 
seriously  hurt — how  seriously  he  cannot  yet  say.  He  is  himself,  and  hopes 
you  will  come  to  him  soon.  He  sends  his  love  to  you. 

"A.  F.  ROCKWELL." 

The  following  letter  was  taken  from  the  prisoner's  pocket  at  police 
headquarters,  showing  conclusively  his  intention  to  kill  the  President : 

July  2,  1891. 
"To  the  White  House : 

"The  President's  tragic  death  was  a  sad  necessity,  but  it  will  unite 
the  Republican  party  and  save  the  Republic.  Life  is  a  flimsy  dream,  and 
it  matters  little  when  one  goes.  A  human  life  is  of  small  value.  During 
the  war  thousands  of  brave  boys  went  down  without  a  tear.  I  presume 
the  President  was  a  Christian  and  that  he  will  be  happier  in  Paradise  than 
here.  It  will  be  no  worse  for  Mrs.  Garfield,  dear  soul,  to  part  with  her 
husband  this  way  than  by  natural  death.  He  is  liable  to  go  at  any  time, 
anyway.  I  have  no  ill  will  toward  the  President.  His  death  was  a  politi- 
cal necessity.  I  am  a  lawyer,  a  theologian,  and  a  politician.  I  am  a  stal- 
wart of  the  stalwarts.  I  was  with  General  Grant  and  the  rest  of  our  men 
in  New  York  during  the  canvass.  I  have  some  papers  for  the  press, 
which  I  shall  leave  with  Byron  Andrews  and  his  co- journalists  at  No. 
1420  New  York  Avenue,  where  the  reporters  can  see  them.  I  am  going  to 
the  jail.  CHARLES  GUITEAU." 

Mr.  Andrews,  to  whom  allusion  is  made  in  the  foregoing  letter,  was 
the  Washington  correspondent  of  the  Chicago  Inter  Ocean.  Upon  learn- 
ing of  the  shooting,  and  the  allusion  made  to  him  in  the  prisoner's  paper, 
Mr.  Andrews  repaired  to  police  headquarters  and  made  a  sworn  state- 
ment to  the  effect  that  he  had  never  heard  of  nor  met  with  Guiteau  until 
he  saw  him  under  arrest.  The  prisoner's  statement,  addressed  to 
Mr.  Andrews,  was  retained  by  the  police  authorities.  Among  the  papers 
was  the  following  letter  to  General  Sherman : 
"To  General  Sherman : 

"I  have  just  shot  the  President.     I  shot  him  several  times,  as  I 


304  JAMES    ABRAM    GARF1ELD. 

wished  him  to  go  as  easily  as  possible.  His  death  was  a  political  neces- 
sity. I  am  a  lawyer,  a  theologian  and  politician.  I  am  a  stalwart  of  the 
stalwarts.  I  was  with  General  Grant  and  the  rest  of  our  men  in  New 
York  during  the  canvass.  I  am  going  to  jail.  Please  order  out  your 
troops  and  take  possession  of  the  jail  at  once. 

"CHARLES  GUITEAU." 

The  following  address  was  upon  the  letter:  "Please  address  at  once 
to  General  Sherman  or  his  first  assistant  in  charge  of  the  War  Depart- 
ment." 

The  following  announcement  was  made  at  2  o'clock  a.  m.,  July  3d, 
by  the  President's  physician :  "The  improvement  in  the  President's  con- 
dition, wh'ich  began  between  8  and  9  o'clock  tonight,  has  steadily  continued, 
and  his  respiration  and  temperature  are  now,  at  2  o'clock,  normal.  His 
pulse  has  further  fallen  to  120." 

The  President  continued  to  improve  and  rest  comfortably.  The  feel- 
ing at  the  White  House  had  now  changed  from  despondency  to  buoyant 
hope.  Dr.  Bliss  stated  that,  while  the  patient's  condition  was  yet  very 
critical,  he  entertained  some  hope  that  he  might  pull  through.  The 
chances,  however,  were  still  against  him.  He  relied  upon  the  President's 
strong  constitution  to  assist  him  materially.  The  President  maintained  the 
same  composure  and  self-possession  that  characterized  him  all  day.  His 
demeanor  was  something  remarkable.  He  was  by  far  the  lightest-hearted 
person  in  the  White  House.  To  Mr.  Bliss,  upon  being  informed  that  he 
had  one  chance  of  life,  and  only  one,  he  laughingly  replied:  "We  will 
take  that  one  chance,  Doctor,  and  make  good  use  of  it."  Mrs.  Garfield 
behaved  admirably.  She  displayed  a  strength  of  character  wholly  unex- 
pected by  everybody.  She  exercised  a  self-control  that  elicited  the  enco- 
miums of  all  by  whom  she  was  surrounded.  After  her  private  interview 
with  her  husband,  she  summoned  Dr.  Bliss  to  her  private  apartment,  and 
there  had  a  conference  of  half  an  hour  with  him.  At  the  very  start,  she 
told  him  that  she  wished  to  hear  nothing  but  the  truth  respecting  her 
husband's  condition;  that  she  was  prepared  for  the  worst,  and  knowing 
that  the  inevitable  must  occur,  she,  like  the  President,  was  prepared  in  a 
Christian  spirit  to  submit  to  the  will  of  God,  and  bear  whatever  might 
occur  with  all  the  fortitude  and  resignation  at  her  command.  Dr.  Bliss 
then  detailed  the  President's  symptoms,  and  entered  into  a  full  history  of 
the  case  from  the  moment  the  President  came  under  his  treatment,  which 
was  within  ten  minutes  of  the  shooting.  Mrs.  Garfield  listened  calmly. 
There  was  not  a  tear  in  her  eye.  In  speaking  of  her  conduct  during  the 
interview,  Dr.  Bliss  enthusiastically  said : 


JAMES    ABRAM    GARFIELD.  305 

"If  there  ever  was  a  true  heroine,  Mrs.  Garfield  has  proved  herself 
one  of  the  noblest,  in  romance  or  reality." 

Secretary  Elaine  left  the  White  House  at  a  late  hour,  quite  over- 
come after  the  terrible  events  of  the  day.  He  said  if  the  nearest  member 
of  his  family  had  been  stricken  down  he  could  not  have  been  more 
shocked.  "I  have  known  General  Garfield  for  nineteen  years.  We  have 
been  as  close  and  intimate  in  our  social  relations  as  any  two  men  could 
have  been.  We  drove  down  to  the  depot  together.  I  never  saw  him  more 
hilarious.  Leaving  all  personal  considerations  out  of  the  question,  I 
believe  that  General  Garfield's  death  at  this  juncture  will  be  a  public 
calamity.  From  what  the  doctors  tell  me,  I  now  hope  for  the  best." 

DETAILS  OF  THE  CRIME. 

United  States  District  Attorney  Corkhill,  of  Washington,  furnished 
the  following  statement  for  publication: 

"The  interest  felt  by  the  public  in  the  details  of  the  assassination,  and 
the  many  stories  published,  justify  me  in  stating  that  the  following  is  a 
correct  and  accurate  statement  concerning  the  points  to  which  reference 
is  made: 

"The  assassin,  Charles  Guiteau,  came  to  Washington  City  on  Sun- 
day evening,  March  6th,  and  stopped  at  the  Ebbitt  House,  remaining 
only  one  day.  He  then  secured  a  room  in  another  part  of  the  city,  and 
has  boarded  and  roomed  at  various  places,  the  full  details  of  which  I 
have.  On  Wednesday,  May  18,  the  assassin  determined  to  murder  the 
President.  He  had  neither  money  nor  pistol  at  the  time.  About  the  last 
of  May  he  went  into  O'Meara's  store,  corner  of  Fifteenth  and  F  Streets, 
in  this  city,  and  examined  some  pistols,  asking  for  the  largest  caliber. 
He  was  shown  two  similar  in  caliber  and  only  differing  in  the  price.  On 
Wednesday,  June  8,  he  purchased  the  pistol  which  he  used,  for  which  he 
paid  ten  dollars,  having  in  the  meantime  borrowed  fifteen  dollars  of  a 
gentleman  in  this  city  on  the  plea  that  he  wanted  *«  pay  his  board  bill. 
On  the  same  evening,  about  seven  o'clock,  he  rook  the  pistol  and  went 
to  the  foot  of  Seventeenth  Street  and  practiced  firing  at  a  board,  firing 
ten  shots.  He  then  returned  to  his  boarding-house  and  wiped  the  pistol 
dry  and  wrapped  it  in  his  coat  and  waited  his  opportunity. 

"On  Sunday  morning,  June  12,  he  was  sitting  in  Lafayette  Park  and 
saw  the  President  leave  for  the  Christian  Church,  on  Vermont  Avenue, 
and  he  at  once  returned  to  his  room,  obtained  his  pistol,  put  it  in  his  hip 
pocket,  and  followed  the  President  to  church.  He  entered  the  church, 
but  found  that  he  could  not  kill  him  there  without  danger  of  killing 


3o6  JAMES    A.B  RAM    GARFIELD. 

some  one  else.  He  noticed  that  the  President  sat  near  a  window.  After 
church  he  made  an  examination  of  the  window  and  found  he  could  reach 
it  without  any  trouble,  and  that  from  this  point  he  could  shoot  the  Presi- 
dent through  the  head  without  killing  any  one  else. 

"The  following  Wednesday  he  went  to  the  church,  examined  the 
location  and  the  window,  and  became  satisfied  he  could  accomplish  hi& 
purpose,  and  he  determined  therefore  to  make  the  attempt  at  the  church 
on  the  following  Sunday.  He  learned  from  the  papers  that  the  President 
would  leave  the  city  on  Saturday,  June  18,  with  Mrs.  Garfield,  for  Long 
Branch.  He  therefore  determined  to  meet  him  at  the  depot.  He  left  his 
boarding-place  about  five  o'clock  on  Saturday  morning,  June  18,  and  went 
down  to  the  river  at  the  foot  of  Seventeenth  Street  and  fired  five  shots 
to  practice  his  aim  and  be  certain  his  pistol  was  in  good  order.  He  then 
went  to  the  depot,  and  was  in  the  ladies'  waiting  room  with  the  pistol 
ready  when  the  President's  party  entered.  He  says  Mrs.  Garfield  looked 
so  weak  and  frail  that  he  had  not  the  heart  to  shoot  the  President  in  her 
presence,  and  as  he  knew  he  would  have  another  opportunity  he  left  the 
depot.  He  had  previously  engaged  a  carriage  to  take  him  to  the  jail. 
On  Wednesday  evening  the  President  and  his  son,  and,  I  think,  United 
States  Marshal  Henry,  went  out  for  a  ride. 

"The  assassin  took  his  pistol  and  followed  them,  and  watched  them 
for  some  time  in  hopes  the  carriage  would  stop ;  but  no  opportunity  was 
given.  On  Friday  evening,  July  ist,  he  was  sitting  on  the  seat  in  the 
park  opposite  the  White  House,  when  he  saw  the  President  come  out 
alone.  He  followed  him  down  the  avenue  to  Fifteenth -Street,  and  then 
kept  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street  up  Fifteenth  Street  until  the  Presi^ 
dent  entered  the  residence  of  Secretary  Elaine. 

"He  watched  at  the  corner  of  Mr.  Morton's  late  residence  on  the 
corner  of  Fifteenth  and  H  Streets,  for  some  time,  and  then,  afraid  he 
would  attract  attention,  he  went  into  the  alley  in  the  rear  of  Mr.  Morton's 
residence,  examined  his  pistol  and  waited.  The  President  and  Secretary 
Elaine  came  out  together,  and  he  followed  them  over  to  the  gate  of  the 
White  House,  but  could  get  no  opportunity  to  use  his  weapon. 

"On  the  morning  of  Saturday,  July  2d,  he  breakfasted  at  the  Riggs 
House  about  seven  o'clock.  He  then  walked  up  into  the  park  and  sat 
there  for  an  hour.  He  then  took  a  one-horse  avenue  car  and  rode  to 
Sixth  Street ;  got  out  and  went  into  the  depot  and  loitered  around  there ; 
had  his  shoes  blacked,  engaged  a  hackman  for  two  dollars  to  take  him  to 
the  jail,  went  into  the  water  closet  and  took  his  pistol  out  of  his  hip  pocket 
and  unwrapped  the  paper  from  around  it,  which  he  had  put  there  for  the 


JAMES    ABRAM    GARFIELD.  307 

purpose  of  preventing  the  perspiration  from  the  body  dampening  the 
powder;  examined  the  pistol  carefully,  tried  the  trigger,  and  then  re- 
turned and  took  a  seat  in  the  ladies'  waiting-room,  and  as  soon  as  the 
President  entered  advanced  behind  him  and  fired  two  shots." 

As  soon  as  possible  the  wounded  President  was  removed  in  an 
ambulance  to  the  White  House,  where  every  attention  was  given  him. 
On  the  way  his  expressions  of  pain  and  suffering  were  so  evident  that 
it  was  feared  the  spinal  column  had  been  injured,  but  investigation  failed 
to  prove  the  fact.  That  he  was  undergoing  the  most  excruciating  agony 
could  not  be  concealed,  but  the  surgeons  in  charge  were  ignorant  as  to 
the  real  state  of  affairs. 

Weeks  passed,  but  the  condition  of  the  President  did  not  improve^ 
Then  it  was  decided  to  take  him  to  the  seashore,  in  hopes  that  the  invig- 
orating breezes  of  the  ocean  might  afford  some  solace. 

President  Garfield  was  accordingly  removed  to  Elberon,  N.  J.,  where, 
after  undergoing  unheard-of  torture,  he  expired  on  the  evening  of  the 
1 9th  of  September,  1881.  Immediately  succeeding  the  announcement  of 
his  death  Vice-President  Arthur  was  sworn  in  and  assumed  the  duties 
of  the  executive  office. 

PRESIDENT  GARFIELD'S  FATALISM. 

Those  who  were  most  familiar  with  General  Garfield  say  that  for 
many  years  he  cherished  the  belief  that  he  could  not  live  to  be  older  than 
his  father  was,  and  that  he  would  die  in  some  sudden  and  violent  manner. 
His  friends,  with  all  their  persuasion,  were  not  able  to  make  him  dismiss 
this  thought. 

He  would  say,  in  answer  to  their  claims  that  such  a  belief  was  fool- 
ish :  "It  seems  to  me  as  foolish  as  it  does  to  you.  I  do  not  know  why- 
it  haunts  me.  Indeed,  it  is  a  thing  that  is  wholly  involuntary  on  my  part, 
and  when  I  try  the  hardest  not  to  think  of  it  it  haunts  me  most.  It 
comes  to  me  sometimes  in  the  night,  when  all  is  quiet.  I  think  of  my 
father  and  how  he  died  in  the  strength  of  his  manhood  and  left  my  mother 
to  care  for  a  large  family  of  children,  and  how  I  have  always  been  with- 
out his  assistance  and  advice,  and  then  I  feel  it  so  strong  upon  me  that 
the  vision  is  in  the  form  of  a  warning  that  I  cannot  treat  lightly." 

For  many  years  he  believed  that  he  should  some  time  fall  between 
cars  or  be  killed  in  some  way  while  traveling.  When  he  reached  the  age 
of  his  father  at  death,  and  passed  that  point  safely,  he  seemed  to  forget 
the  idea  that  had  given  him  so  much  trouble.  He  was  now  49, 
nearly  five  years  older  than  his  father  when  he  died.  It  is  said  by  those 


308  JAMES    ABRAM    GAR  FIELD. 

who  knew  the  General  best  that  he  was  ever  to  a  greater  or  less  degree 
a  believer  in  fatalism.  He  was  a  man  who  invariably  had  the  strongest 
impressions,  and  it  is  believed  that  it  was  an  impression  that  prevailed 
with  him  for  many  years  that  he  would  be  President  some  time.  He 
never  sought  the  office  and  never  intended  to  do  so. 

An  intimate  friend  well  remembered  to  have  heard  him.  discuss  the 
very  matter  at  dinner.  He  said: 

"The  American  people  are  very  much  like  one  giant  human  being. 
The  combined  intellect  generally  acts  like  the  intellect  of  a  single  man 
when  it  gets  ready  to  act.  When  the  giant  wants  any  man  whom  he  has 
chosen  to  work  for  him,  he  knows  just  how  to  let  him  know  it.  If  a  man 
offers  his  services,  the  giant  very  often  rejects  them. 

"It  is  like  a  maiden  asking  a  man  to  marry  her.  No  woman  is  so 
handsome  and  witty  and  accomplished  that  she  can  afford  to  do  this. 
Ten  chances  in  the  dozen,  the  man  will  say,  if  not  to  the  woman  herself, 
at  least  to  himself,  'I  was  about  to  ask  you,  but  I  think  you  are  just  a 
little  too  willing ;  I  believe  I'd  rather  wait/ 

"The  American  people  like  to  discover  a  man.  Then  they  can  claim 
him  as  their  own  by  an  old  and  established  usage.  They  will  discover 
him  sooner  or  later,  if  there  is  anything  in  him  worth  discovering.  I  have 
more  confidence  in  the  judgment  of  the  united  intellect  of  the  American 
people  than  in  anything  else  in  the  world.  Great  men  and  orators  may 
move  and  modify  it  and  knaves  and  charlatans  may  pervert  it,  but,  sooner 
or  later,  the  true  conclusions  will  be  reached,  and  right  and  justice  will 
triumph." 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

GARFIELD,  LIKE  LINCOLN,  WAS  BORN  IN  THE  WESTERN  WILDERNESS — 
LEFT  AN  ORPHAN  AT  AN  EARLY  AGE — WONDERFUL  SELF-RELIANCE 
.  OF  His  MOTHER — GOES  TO  SEA  ON  A  CANAL  BOAT — PROMOTED  TO  BE 
PILOT — AMBITIOUS  AND  ENERGETIC. 


James  Abram  Garfield,  like  Lincoln,  was  a  man  of  the  common 
people.  He  sprung  from  them.  Without  aid  from  any  source  he  worked 
his  way  onward  and  upward.  Perhaps  it  may  be  said  he  had  more  of 
the  advantages  that  are  of  use  in  the  struggle  of  life  than  Lincoln,  but 
that  is*  not  saying  much. 

Like  Lincoln,  he  was  born  in  the  wilderness  of  the  West.  While 
yet  a  blue-eyed  baby  his  father  died  and  left  his  wife  to  face  the  world 
alone  with  her  four  children. 

Baby  Garfield  was  born  in  Orange,  Cuyahoga  County,  Ohio,  Novem- 
ber 19,  1831,  and  as  soon  as  he  was  old  enough  to  know  what  work  meant 
he  went  to  work.  His  mother  was  an  energetic  woman,  who  did  not  know 
what  failure  meant.  After  her  husband's  death  she  proceeded  to  direct 
the  small  farm,  which  was  her  only  means  of  livelihood,  and  although  it 
was  heavily  encumbered,  she  did  not  lose  heart. 

Putting  aside  the  mistaken  but  kindly  meant  advice  of  friends,  she 
said  the  house  should  not  be  broken  up,  the  children  should  not  be  scat- 
tered. Advisers  yielded  to  her  will,  and  she  had  her  way.  She  took 
up  the  mantle  of  head  of  the  family,  and  with  that  brevet  rank  which 
widowhood  never  fails  to  confer  upon  deserving  women,  she  made  herself 
thoroughly  respected  by  her  sterling  force  of  character  and  high  resolve 
to  dare  and  do  for  the  weal  of  her  children.  Though  small  of  stature, 
and  30  years  of  age,  she  had  the  ability  and  energy  of  a  larger  and 
older  woman.  The  farm  was  to  be  kept  up,  the  home  continued  as  it  had 
been  since  1830,  and  "four  saplings"  cared  for  until  they  were  ready  to 
be  transplanted.  Then,  and  not  till  then,  would  she  give  up  the  farm. 

This  was  a  resolve  that  boded  no  harvest  in  its  fruition.  For  there 
was  nothing  strikingly  beautiful  in  the  country  where  she  dwelt,  there 

309 


3!0  JAMES    ABRAM    GARFIELD. 

was  nothing  remarkably  attractive.  The  soil  was  not  noticeably  excellent. 
There  were  a  thousand  farms  that  surpassed  it,  and  she  had  nothing 
to  work  with  but  energy  and  willingness.  She  rose  early  and  retired 
late.  Her  work  never  sought  her,  she  sought  it.  The  homestead  assumed 
a  more  homelike  appearance  each  year,  as  new  comforts  were  added  by 
the  thrifty  woman  who  managed  it. 

The  young  orchard  which  Abram  Garfield,  the  father,  had  planted 
grew  amazingly,  and  the  trees  fulfilled  the  promise  of  their  planting. 
Cherries,  apples  and  plums,  and  later  currants,  proved  quite  an  addition 
to  the  frugal  fare  of  the  family,  and  the  gathering  of  these  was  always 
a  delight  to  the  children.  Often  could  young  James  be  seen  perched 
on  the  top  of  a  tree,  with  a  pail,  picking  cherries  for  his  mother  to 
preserve,  or  gathering  apples  for  her  to  dry. 

Outdoor  life  to  the  boy,  who  had  already  toddled  through  infancy 
and  was  now  a  rousing  youngster  of  8,  presented  many  an  attraction 
that  some  children  never  seem  to  perceive. 

When  12  years  of  age  young  Garfield  was  well  advanced  in  an  educa- 
tional way;  he  went  to  school,  and  when  he  was  not  at  his  desk  his 
mother  taught  him. 

Young  Garfield's  popularity  with  the  citizens  of  Orange  was  great, 
and  they  often  put  themselves  out  to  do  a  favor  for  the  youth  who  was 
so  firmly  resolved  to  become  a  fully  equipped  man,  and  they  gave  him 
employment  mornings,  evenings  and  Saturdays.  In  this  way  he  earned 
enough  to  clothe  and  maintain  himself,  and  also  help  the  family  a  little. 
The  summer  vacation  afforded  him  more  time  to  work  and  added  largely 
to  his  earnings. 

He  was  sober  and  steady,  a  giant  in  labor,  and  never  seemed  to  even 
give  himself  time  to  rest.  The  savings  of  his  busy  vacations,  earned  with 
a  jack-plane  and  hammer,  made  a  full  purse  to  the  lad  whose  previous 
supplies  of  money  had  been  more  than  meager. 

From  his  earliest  appreciable  days,  young  Garfield  had  been  fond 
of  books.  Before  he  could  read  he  loved  to  listen  to  what  others  would 
tell  him,  treasuring  every  word  his  unpracticed  memory  could  recall. 
When  he  was  able  to  read,  his  appetite  for  it  grew  with  every  hour  of 
his  life.  What  he  could  obtain  in  the  way  of  literature  he  devoured,  not 
merely  read,  but  re-read  and  re-read,  until  every  word  was  more  than 
a  "twice-told  tale."  Books  of  adventure,  tales  of  daring,  lives  of  free- 
booters seemed  to  fascinate  his  mind  the  most.  The  air  of  wild  freedom, 
the  nonchalance  and  absence  of  care  with  which  pirates  lived,  was  a 


JAM  US    ABRAM    GARFIELD.  3" 

great  attraction  to  the  boy's  spirit,  already  equal  in  its  boldness  to  the 
most  daring  freebooter  the  sea  ever  knew. 

"The  Pirate's  Own  Book"  was  a  treasure-house  of  stories  in  which 
Garfield  took  an  extreme,  ever  vivified  delight.  No  matter  how 
many  times  he  pored  over  the  book;  no  matter  how  often 
he  absorbed  its  wild  life  and  seemed  to  breathe  the  very  atmosphere  in 
which  his  heroes  lived  and  moved,  it  was  ever  a  well-spring  of  pleasure 
to  him. 

He  shared  in  all  the  dangers  of  the  pirates,  he  made  the  bivouac  with 
them  on  the  lonely  beach  among  the  shadows,  he  drank  their  coffee,  he 
ate  their  biscuits'  and  fruit,  he  stole  with  them  on  stealthy  foot  over  the 
difficult  paths  to  where  the  gold  was  buried  from  the  last  great  prize, 
a  Spanish  treasure  galleon,  he  boarded  the  stranger  ship,  he  carried  a 
torch  that  set  her  on  fire  with  the  best  of  them,  and  he  joined  with  all 
a  boy's  ardor  in  the  lusty  cheer  as  the  prize  went  down. 

He  lived  their  lives  over  again,  he  was  every  brave  chief  in  turn,  and 
he  loved  the  salt  waves  with  the  most  enthusiastic  of  them  all. 

Young  Garfield's  great  ambition  was  to  be  a  sailor,  but  his  sea-going 
was  confined  to  the  canal.  He  applied  to  Captain  Amos  Letcher,  of  the 
canalboat  "Evening  Star,"  and  was  taken  in. 

Captain  Letcher  tells  the  following  story  as  to  how  James  A.  Garfield, 
afterward  President  of  the  United  States,  came  to  be  a  sailor  on  a  canal- 
boat: 

"There  was  nothing  prepossessing  about  him  at  that  time,  any  more 
than  he  had  a  free,  open  countenance.  He  had  no  bad  habits,  was 
truthful,  and  a  boy  that  every  one  would  trust  on  becoming  acquainted 
with  him.  He  came  to  me  in  the  summer  of  1847,  when  I  was  Captain 
of  the  'Evening  Star,'  and  half  owner — B.  H.  Fisher,  now  Judge  Fisher 
of  Wichita,  Kansas,  being  my  partner. 

"Early  one  morning,  while  discharging  a  cargo,  Jim  Garfield  tapped 
me  on  the  shoulder  and  said:  'Hello,  Ame,  what  are  you  doing  here?' 
'You  see  what  I'm  doing.  What  are  you  doing  here  ?'  'Hunting  work.' 
'What  kind  of  work  do  you  want  ?'  'Anything  to  make  a  living.  I  came 
here  to  ship  on  the  lake,  but  they  bluffed  me  off,  and  called  me  a  country 
greenhorn.'  'You'd  better  try  your  hand  on  smaller  waters  first;  you'd 
better  get  so  you  can  drive  a  horse  and  tie  a  tow-line.  I  should  like  to 
have  you  work  for  me,  but  I've  nothing  better  than  a  driver's  berth,  and 
suppose  you  would  not  like  to  work  for  twelve  dollars  a  month  ?' 

"  'I  have  got  to  do  something,  and,  if  that  is  the  best  you  can  do,  I 
will  take  the  team.' 


312  JAMES    ABRAM    GARF1ELD. 

"  'All  right,  I  will  give  you  a  better  position  as  soon  as  a  vacancy 
occurs.'  I  called  my  other  driver  and  said,  'Ikey,  go  and  show  Jim  his 
team.'  Just  as  they  were  going  to  start,  Jim  asked,  'Is  it  a  good  team?' 
'As  good  as  is  on  the  canal.'  'What  are  their  names  ?'  'Kit  and  Nance.' 

"Soon  after  we  were  in  the  'eleven-mile  lock,'  and  I  thought  I'd 
sound  Jim  on  education — in  the  rudiments  of  geography,  arithmetic  and 
grammar.  For  I  was  just  green  enough  those  days  to  imagine  that  I 
knew  it  all.  I  had  been  teaching  school  for  three  winters  in  the  backwoods 
of  Steuben  County,  Ind.  So  I  asked  him  several  questions,  and  he 
answered  them  all ;  and  then  he  asked  me  several  that  I  could  not  answer. 
I  told  him  he  had  too  good  a  head  to  be  a  common  canal  hand. 

"As  we  were  approaching  the  twenty-one  locks  of  Akron,  I  sent 
my  bowsman  to  make  the  first  lock  ready.  Just  as  he  got  there  the  bows- 
man  from  a  boat  above  made  his  appearance  and  said :  'Don't  turn  this 
lock;  our  boat  is  just  round  the  bend,  ready  to  enter.'  My  man  objected 
and  began  turning  the  gate. 

"By  this  time  both  boats  were  near  "the  lock,  and  their  headlights 
made  it  almost  as  bright  as  day.  Every  man  from  both  boats  was  on 
hand  ready  for  a  field  fight.  I  motioned  my  bowsman  to  come  to  me. 
Said  I:  'Were  we  here  first?'  'It's  hard  telling,  but  we'll  have  the  lock 
anyhow/  'All  right,  just  as  you  say.' 

"Jim  Garfield  tapped  me  on  the  shoulder  and  asked:  'Does  that 
lock  belong  to  us?'  'I  suppose,  according  to  law,  it  does  not.  But  we 
will  have  it  anyhow/  'No,  we  will  not/  'Why  ?'  said  I.  'Why  ?'  with  a 
look  of  indignation  I  shall  never  forget,  'why,  because  it  don't  belong  to 
us/  Said  I :  'Boys,  let  them  have  it/ 

"Next  morning,  one  of  the  hands  accused  Jim  of  being  a  coward, 
because  he  would  not  fight  for  his  rights.  Said  I :  'Boys,  don't  be  hard 
on  Jim.  I  was  mad  last  night,  but  I  have  got  over  it.  Jim  may  be  a 
coward  for  aught  I  know,  but  if  he  is,  he  is  the  first  one  of  the  name  that 
I  ever  knew  that  was. 

"  'His  father  was  no  coward.  He  helped  dig  this  canal,  and  weighed 
over  two  hundred  pounds,  and  could  take  a  barrel  of  whisky  by  the  chime 
and  drink  out  of  the  bunghole  and  no  man  dared  call  him  a  coward. 
You'll  alter  your  opinion  about  Jim  before  fall/ 

"The  next  trip  Jim  was  bowsman.  Before  we  got  to  Beaver — we 
were  bound  for  Pittsburg — the  boys  all  liked  him  first-rate.  Before  we 
got  back  to  Cleveland  Jim  had  the  ague.  He  left  my  boat  at  the  eleven- 
mile  lock  and  struck  across  country  to  his  home." 


\ 


President  Ge^rfield's  Cabinet 


SAMUEL  J.  KIRKWOOD, 

Secretary  of  the  Interior. 


WAYNE  MCVEAGH, 

Attorney  General. 


ROBERT  T.  LINCOLN, 
Secretary  of  War. 


JAMES  G.  ELAINE, 

Secretary  of  State. 


WILLIAM  WINDOM, 

Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 


WILLIAM  M.  HUNT, 

Secretary  of  the  Navy. 


THOMAS  L.  JAMES, 

Postmaster  General. 


The  La.te  President  Ga.rfield's  Home  at  Mentor,  O. 


JAMESABRAMGARFIELD.  3U 

On  this,  his  first  trip,  he  had  his  first  fight.  He  was  holding  his 
"setting  pole"  against  his  shoulder;  Dave,  a  hand,  was  standing  a  short 
distance  away,  when  the  boat  took  a  sudden  lunge,  the  pole  slipped  from 
the  young  man's  shoulder  and  flew  with  terrible  force  toward  Dave.  A 
loud  call  "Look  out,  Dave!"  was  not  in  time  to  warn  him,  and  he  was 
struck  a  painful  blow  in  the  ribs.  Furiously  enraged,  he  threatened  to 
thrash  the  offender  within  an  inch  of  his  life,  and  with  his  head  down, 
rushed  like  a  mad  bull  at  Garfield. 

The  latter  took  in  the  situation  at  a  glance,  and,  stepping  aside,  he 
waited  Dave's  approach  with  quiet  confidence.  When  he  was  close,  he 
dealt  him  a  terrible  blow  under  the  ear  that  felled  him  to  the  deck  of  the 
boat.  In  an  instant  he  was  upon  him  with  his  clenched  fists  raised  to 

strike.  "Pound  him, him !"  called  out  Captain  Letcher,  " if  I 

interfere.  A  man  who'll  git  mad  at  an  accident  orto  be  thrashed."  Jim 
didn't  strike.  He  saw  his  antagonist  was  helpless  and  he  let  him  up. 
Dave  and  he  arose,  shook  hands  and  were  ever  after  fast  friends. 

This  fight  was,  however,  but  preliminary  to  many  others  during  his 
three  months  on  the  tow-path,  as,  the  boys  on  the  canal  undertaking  to 
bully  him,  it  was  constantly  necessary  to  remind  them  that  he  wouldn't 
be  bullied,  which  he  always  did  most  effectually  by  the  virtue  of  his 
toughened  muscles. 

Such  was  his  disposition,  capacity  and  attention  to  duty  that  in  the 
completion  of  the  first  round  trip  he  had  learned  all  there  was  to  be 
learned  on  the  tow-path.  He  was  promptly  promoted  from  driver  to 
bowsman ;  he  was  accorded  the  proud  privilege  of  steering  the  boat  instead 
of  steering  the  mules. 

By  actual  count  during  his  first  trip  in  his  new  position  he  fell  over- 
board fourteen  times.  This  was  serious.  The  malaria  of  the  canal  region 
would  in  all  probability  have  taken  hold  of  his  system  in  due  time  any- 
how, but  these  frequent  baths  greatly  helped  it.  He  could  not  swim  a 
stroke,  and  aid  to  fish  him  out  was  not  always  forthcoming. 

One  dark  and  rainy  midnight  as  the  "Evening  Star"  was  leaving  one 
of  those  long  reaches  of  slack  water  which  abounded  in  the  Ohio  and 
Pennsylvania  Canal  the  boy  was  called  out  of  his  "berth  to  take  his  turn 
in  tending  the  bow  line.  Bundling  out  of  bed,  his  eyes  only  half  opened, 
he  took  his  place  on  the  narrow  platform  below  the  bow  deck  and  began 
uncoiling  a  rope  to  steady  the  boat  through  a  lock  it  was  approaching. 
Sleepily  and  slowly  he  unwound  the  coil  till  it  knotted  and  caught  in  a 
narrow  cleft  in  the  edge  of  the  deck. 


3i4  JAMES    ABRAM    GARFIELD. 

He  gave  it  a  sudden  pull,  but  it  held  fast,  then  another  and  a  stronger 
pull,  and  it  gave  way,  but  sent  him  over  the  bow  of  the  "Evening  Star" 
into  the  water.  Down  fie  went  into  the  dark  night  and  still  darker  water 
and  the  "Evening  Star"  glided  on  to  bury  him  among  the  fishes.  No 
human  help  was  near ;  God  only  could  save  him,  and  He  only  by  a  miracle. 
So  the  boy  thought  as  he  went  down  saying  the  prayer  his  mother  had 
taught  him.  Instinctively  clutching  the  rope,  he  sank  below  the  surface, 
but  then  it  tightened  in  his  grasp  and  held  firmly.  Seizing  it,  hand  over 
hand  he  drew  himself  upon  the  deck  and  was  again  a  live  boy  among  the 
living.  Another  kink  had  caught  in  another  crevice  and  proved  his  salva- 
tion. 

Was  it  the  prayer  or  the  love  of  his  praying  mother  that  saved  him  ? 
The  boy  did  not  know,  but  long  after  the  boat  had  passed  the  lock  he 
stood  there  in  his  dripping  clothes  pondering  the  question. 

Coiling  the  rope,  he  tried  to  throw  it  again  into  the  crevice,  but  it 
had  lost  the  knack  of  kinking.  Many  times  he  tried — six  hundred  it  is 
said — and  then  set  down  and  reflected:  "I  have  thrown  this  rope  six 
hundred  times,  I  might  throw  it  ten  times  as  many  without  its  catching. 
Ten  times  six  hundred  are  six  thousand,  so  there  were  six  thousand 
chances  against  my  life.  Against  such  odds  Providence  alone  could  have 
saved  it.  Providence,  therefore,  thinks  it  worth  saving,  and  if  that's  so 
I  won't  throw  it  away  on  a  canal  boat.  I'll  go  home,  get  an  education  and 
become  a  man." 

Straightway  he  acted  on  the  resolution,  and  not  long  after  stood 
before  his  mother's  log  cottage  in  the  Cuyahoga  wilderness.  It  was 
late  at  night.  The  stars  were  out,  and  the  moon  was  down,  but  by  the 
firelight  that  came  through  the  window  he  saw  his  mother  kneeling  before 
an  open  book,  which  lay  on  a  chair  in  the  corner.  She  was  reading,  but 
her  eyes  were  off  the  page  looking  up  to  the  Invisible : 

"Oh,  turn  unto  me,  and  have  mercy  upon  me!  Give  Thy  strength 
unto  Thy  servant,  and  save  the  son  of  Thy  handmaid !" 

Then  she  read  what  sounded  like  a  prayer,  but  this  is  all  the  boy 
remembered,  as  he  for  the  first  time  comprehended  that  his  departure 
had  crushed  her. 

He  opened  the  door,  put  his  arm  about  her  neck,  and  laid  his  head 
upon  her  bosom.  What  words  he  said  we  do  not  know,  but  there,  by 
her  side,  he  gave  back  to  God  the  life  which  He  had  given.  So  the 
mother's  prayer  was  answered.  So  sprang  up  the  seed  which  in  toil  and 
tears  she  had  planted. 


JAMES    ABRAM    GARFIELD.  315 

For  a  short  time  he  remained  at  home,  comforting  his  mother  and 
endeavoring  to  reconcile  her  to  his  hopes  of  a  sea-faring  life.  This  he 
more  than  accomplished,  and  was  just  about  to  take  his  second  departure 
when  the  malaria  took  hold  of  him  and  he  was  seized  in  the  vise-like  grip 
of  fever  and  ague.  For  six  months  his  strong  frame  was  shaken.  He 
lay  upon  the  bed,  the  "ague-cake"  in  his  side.  Tenderly,  indefatigably, 
his  mother  nursed  him  during  his  days  of  suffering,  which  her  care 
and  his  iron  constitution  at  last  permitted  him  to  overcome.  He  was 
still  determined,  however,  to  return  to  the  canal,  and  thence  to  the  lake 
and  ocean.  Mrs.  Garfield  well  knew  that  any  opposition  would  be  useless, 
so  she  argued  that  he  had  better  attend  school,  for  a  time  at  least,  until 
he  was  able  to  resume  severe  labor,  and  thus  fit  himself  to  teach  during 
the  winter  months,  when  he  could  not  sail.  He  reluctantly  consented  to 
his  mother's  wishes.  So  came  about  a  great  change — a  change  that 
worked  for  Jim  Garfield  a  wonderful,  far-differing  future  than  that  which 
he  had  woven  from  his  net  of  fancies. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

YOUNG  GARFIELD  DETERMINED  TO  SECURE  AN  EDUCATION — GIVES  UP 
THE  IDEA  OF  BECOMING  A  SAILOR — SCHOOL  AT  CHESTER  ACADEMY — 
JOINS  THE  CHURCH — His  CREED — ENTERS  HIRAM  COLLEGE — Is 
GRADUATED  AT  WILLIAMS — PRESIDENT  OF  HIRAM — His  MARRIAGE 
— GOES  TO  THE  OHIO  STATE  SENATE. 


When  young  Garfield  was  seventeen  years  of  age  he  gave  up  the  idea 
of  becoming  a  sailor  on  the  lakes  and  made  up  his  mind  to  secure  an  educa- 
tion. He  finally  resolved  to  attend  the  High  School  one  session,  and  it 
was  this  resolution  made  a  Major  General,  a  Senator,  and  a  President  of 
him,  instead  of  a  common  sailor  before  the  mast,  on  a  Lake  Erie  schooner. 

Accordingly  he  joined  two  other  young  men,  William  Boynton  (his 
cousin),  and  Orrin  H.  Judd,  of  Orange,  and  they  reached  Chester  March 
6th,  1849,  and  rented  a  room  in  an  unpainted  frame  house  nearly  west 
from  the  seminary  and  across  the  street  from  it.  Garfield  had  seventeen 
dollars  in  his  pocket,  scraped  together  by  his  mother  and  his  brother 
Thomas.  They  took  provisions  along  and  a  cooking  stove,  and  a  poor 
widow  prepared  their  meals  and  did  their  washing  for  an  absurdly  small 
sum.  The  Academy  was  a  two-story  building,  and  the  school,  with 
about  a  hundred  pupils  of  both  sexes,  drawn  from  the  farming  country 
around  Chester,  was  in  a  flourishing  condition.  It  had  a  library  of  per- 
haps one  hundred  and  fifty  volumes — more  books  than  young  Garfield 
had  ever  seen  before.  A  venerable  gentleman  named  Daniel  Branch 
was  principal  of  the  school,  and  his  wife  was  his  chief  assistant.  Then 
there  were  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Coffin,  Mr.  Bigelow  and  Miss  Abigail  Curtis. 
Mrs.  Branch  had  introduced  an  iconoclastic  grammar,  which  assailed  all 
other  systems  as  founded  on  a  false  basis,  maintained  that  but  was  a  verb 
in  the  imperative  mood,  and  meant  be  out;  that  and  was  also  a  verb  in  the 
imperative  mood,  and  meant  add;  and  tried  in  other  ways  to  upset  the  ac- 
cepted etymology.  Garfield  had  been  reared  in  "Kirkham"  at  the  district 
school,  and  refused  to  accept  the  new  system.  The  grammar  classes  that 
term  were  a  continuous  battle  between  him  and  the  teacher.  Here,  though 
he  did  not  know  it  at  the  time,  he  first  saw  his  future  wife.  Lucretia 
Randolph,  a  quiet,  studious  girl  in  her  seventeenth  year,  was  among  the 

316 


JAMESABRAMGARFIELD.  317 

students.  There  was  no  association  between  the  two,  however,  save  in 
classes.  James  was  awkward  and  bashful,  and  contemplated  the  girls 
at  a  distance  as  a  superior  order  of  beings. 

He  bought,  soon  after  arriving,  the  second  algebra  he  had  ever  seen. 
He  studied  it  as  well  as  natural  philosophy.  At  the  close  of  the  Spring 
term  he  made  his  first  public  speech.  It  was  a  six  minutes'  oration  at 
the  annual  exhibition,  delivered  in  connection  with  a  literary  society  to 
whicfi  he  belonged,  and  he  recorded  in  a  diary  that  he  kept  at  the  time  that 
he  "was  very  much  scared,"  and  "very  glad  of  a  short  curtain  across  the 
platform  that  hid  my  shaking  legs  from  the  audience." 

Among  the  books  he  read  at  this  time  was  the  autobiography  of 
Henry  C.  Wright,  and  the  determined  lad  was  much  impressed  with  the 
author's  account  of  how  he  lived  in  Scotland  on  bread  and  milk  and 
crackers,  and  how  well  he  was  all  the  time,  and  how  hard  he  could  study. 
Fired  with  the  idea,  he  told  his  cousin  that  they  had  been  too  extravagant, 
and  that  another  term  they  must  board  themselves  and  adopt  Wright's 
diet. 

At  the  close  of  the  session  he  returned  to  Orange,  helped  his  brother 
build  a  barn  for  his  mother,  and  then  went  at  the  hard  work  of  earning 
money — for  from  the  time  he  left  Chester  until  today  he  has  always  paid 
his  way — to  continue  his  studies  at  Chester  when  the  Fall  term  began. 

He  worked  at  harvesting,  and  secured  enough  to  guarantee  his  con- 
tinuance at  the  Geauga  Seminary,  and  to  pay  off  some  of  the  doctor's  bills 
incurred  during  his  protracted  illness  of  the  winter  before.  On  his  return 
to  the  seminary  the  "boarding  themselves"  experiment  was  not  repeated. 
An  arrangement  was  entered  into  with  Heman  Woodworth,  a  carpenter 
of  Chester,  to  live  at  his  house  and  have  lodging,  board,  washing,  fuel  and 
light  for  one  dollar  and  six  cents  a  week,  and  this  sum  he  expected  to  earn 
by  helping  the  carpenter  on  Saturdays  and  at  odd  hours  on  school  days. 

The  carpenter  was  building  a  two-story  house  on  the  East  side  of 
the  road  a  little  way  South  of  the  seminary  grounds,  and  James'  first 
work  was  to  get  out  siding  at  two  cents  a  board.  The  first  Saturday  he 
planed  fifty-one  boards  and  so  earned  one  dollar  and  two  cents,  the  most 
money  he  had  ever  got  for  a  day's  work. 

GARFIELD  BEGINS  THE  STUDY  OF  GREEK. 

He  began  that  fall  the  study  of  Greek.  That  term  he  paid  his  way, 
bought  a  few  books,  and  returned  home  "with  three  dollars  in  his  pocket. 
He  now  thought  himself  competent  to  teach  a  country  school,  but  in  two 
days'  tramping  through  Cuyahoga  County,  failed  to  find  employment. 


318  JAMES    ABRAM    GARFIELD. 

Some  schools  had  already  engaged  teachers,  and  where  there  was  still  a 
vacancy  the  trustees  thought  him  too  young. 

He  returned  to  his  mother  completely  discouraged,  and  greatly 
humiliated  by  the  rebuffs  he  had  met  with.  He  made  a  resolution  that 
he  would  never  again  ask  for  a  position  of  any  sort,  and  the  resolution 
was  kept,  for  every  public  place  he  afterwards  occupied  came  to  him  un- 
sought. 

Young  James  returned  to  the  seminary  in  the  Spring  of  1850  and 
resumed  his  studies. 

In  March  of  that  year,  after  having  exercised  his  full  freedom  in 
reaching  conclusions,  he  joined  his  uncle's  church,  the  Church  of  the 
Disciples,  or  Campbellites,  and  was  baptized  in  a  little  stream  that  flows 
into  the  Chagrin  River.  His  conversion  was  brought  about  by  a  quiet, 
sweet-tempered  man,  who  held  a  series  of  meetings  in  the  schoolhouse 
near  the  Garfield  homestead,  and  told  in  the  plainest  manner,  and  with  the 
most  straightforward  earnestness,  the  story  of  the  Gospel. 

The  creed  he  then  professed  is  as  follows : 

1.  We  call  ourselves  Christians  or  Disciples. 

2.  We  believe  in  God  the  Father. 

3.  We  believe  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God,  and 
our  only  Savior.    We  regard  the  divinity  of  Christ  as  the  fundamental 
truth  in  the  Christian  system. 

4.  We  believe  in  the  Holy  Spirit,  both  as  to  its  agency  in  conversion 
and  as  an  indweller  in  the  heart  of  the  Christian. 

5.  We  accept  both  the  Old  and  New  Testament  Scriptures  as  the 
inspired  word  of  God. 

6.  We  believe  in  the  future  punishment  of  the  wicked  and  the  future 
reward  of  the  righteous. 

7.  We  believe  that  Deity  is  a  prayer-hearing  and  prayer-answering 
God. 

8.  We  observe  the  institution  of  the  Lord's  Supper  on  every  Lord's 
Day.     To  this  table  it  is  our  practice  neither  to  invite  nor  debar.     We  say 
it  is  the  Lord's  Supper  for  all  the  Lord's  children. 

9.  We  plead  for  the  union  of  all  God's  people  on  the  Bible  and  the 
Bible  alone. 

10.  The  Bible  is  our  only  creed. 

11.  We  maintain  that  all  the  ordinances  of  the  Gospel  should  be 
observed  as  they  were  in  the  days  of  the  Apostles. 

In  the  Summer  he  decided  to  go  on  with  his  education  at  a  new 
school,  established  by  the  Disciples  the  year  before  at  Hiram,  Portage 


JAMES    ABRAM    GARFIELD.  3^9 

County,  a  cross-roads  village,  twelve  miles  from  any  town  or  railroad. 
His  religious  feeling  naturally  called  him  to  the  young  institution  of  his 
own  denomination.  In  August,  1851,  he  arrived  at  Hiram,  and  found  a 
plain  brick  building  standing  in  the  midst  of  a  cornfield,  with  perhaps  a 
dozen  farm  houses,  near  enough  for  boarding  places  for  the  students.  It 
was  a  lonely,  isolated  place,  on  a  high  ridge  dividing  the  waters  flowing 
into  Lake  Erie  from  those  running  southward  to  the  Ohio.  The  Rev.  A. 
S.  Hayden  was  the  principal. 

During  the  ensuing  summer  (1852),  he  helped  to  build  a  house  in 
the  village,  planing  the  sides  and  shingling  the  roof  .himself.  In  the  Fall 
he  was  made  tutor  in  the  department  of  English  and  ancient  languages, 
and  taught  and  studied  at  the  same  time. 

In  1854  he  entered  Williams  College,  and  in  the  winter  taught  a  writ- 
ing class  at  North  Pownal,  Vt.,  in  the  same  schoolhouse  where  Vice-Pres- 
ident Chester  Alan  Arthur  (who  succeeded  Garfield  as  President)  was 
principal  the  year  previous.  . 

Is  GRADUATED  FROM  WILLIAMS  COLLEGE. 

Study  at  Williams  was  easy  for  young  Garfield.  He  had  been  used 
to  much  harder  work  at  Hiram,  where  he  had  crowded  a  six  years'  course 
into  three,  and  taught  at  the  same  time.  Now  he  had  the  stimulus  of  a 
large  class,  an  advantage  he  had  never  enjoyed  before.  His  lessons  were 
always  perfectly  learned.  Professor  Chadbourne  says  he  was  "the  boy 
who  never  flunked,"  and  he  found  a  good  deal  of  time  for  courses  of  read- 
ing that  involved  as  much  brainwork  as  the  college  text-books.  He  was 
graduated  in  August,  1856,  with  a  class  honor  established  by  President 
Hopkins  and  highly  esteemed  in  the  college — that  of  Metaphysics — read- 
ing an  essay  on  "The  Seen  and  the  Unseen." 

It  is  singular  how  at  different  times  in  the  course  of  his  education 
he  was  thought  to  have  a  special  aptitude  for  some  single  line  of  intel- 
lectual work,  and  how  at  a  later  period  his  talents  seemed  to  lay  just  as 
strongly  in  some  other  line.  At  one  time  it  was  mathematics,  at  another 
the  classics,  at  another  rhetoric,  and  finally  he  excelled  in  metaphysics. 
The  truth  was  that  he  had  a  remarkably  vigorous  and  well-rounded  brain, 
capable  of  doing  effective  work  in  any  direction  his  will  might  dictate. 

The  class  of  1856  contained  among  its  forty-two  members  a  number 
of  men  who  have  since  won  distinction.  Three  became  general  officers 
in  the  volunteer  army  during  the  rebellion — Garfield,  Daviess  and  Thomp- 
son. Two,  Bolter  and  Shattuck,  were  Captains,  and  were  killed  in  battle ; 
Eldridge,  who  afterward  lived  in  Chicago,  was  a  Colonel;  so  was  Ferris 


320  JAMES    ABRAM    GARFIELD. 

Jacobs,  of  Delhi,  N.  Y. ;  Rockwell  became  a  Quartermaster  in  the  regular 
army;  Gilfillan  was  Treasurer  of  the  United  States.  Hill  was  Assistant 
Attorney  General  and  later  a  lawyer  in  Boston.  Knox  was  a  leading 
lawyer  in  New  York.  Newcombe  was  a  professor  in  the  New  York  Uni- 
versity, of  New  York. 

During  his  last  term  at  Williams  he  made  his  first  political  speech, 
an  address  before  a  meeting  gathered  in  one  of  the  class-rooms  to  support 
the  nomination  of  John  C.  Fremont.  Although  he  had  passed  his  ma- 
jority nearly  four  years  before,  he  had  never  voted.  The  old  parties  did 
not  interest  him ;  he  believed  them  both  corrupted  with  the  sin  of  slavery ; 
but  when  a  new  party  arose  to  combat  the  designs  of  the  slave  power  it 
enlisted  his  earnest  sympathies. 

His  mind  was  free  from  all  bias  concerning  the  parties  and  statesmen 
of  the  past,  and  could  equally  admire  Clay  or  Jackson,  Webster  or  Benton. 

In  the  Fall  of  1896  Garfield  entered  Hiram  College  as  a  teacher  of 
ancient  languages  and  literature.  The  next  year  he  was  made  president 
of  that  institution,  being  26  years  of  age,  and  remained  in  that  office  until 
he  went  into  the  army  in  1861. 

Is  ELECTED  PRESIDENT  OF  HIRAM  COLLEGE. 

The  young  president  was  ambitious  for  the  success  of  the  institu- 
tion under  his  charge.  There  probably  never  was  a  younger  college  pres- 
ident, but  he  carried  his  new  position  remarkably  well,  and  brought  to  it 
energy,  vigor  and  good  sense,  which  are  the  mainsprings  of  his  character. 
Under  his  supervision,  the  attendance  on  the  school  at  Hiram  soon  doub- 
led, and  he  raised  its  standard  of  scholarship,  strengthened  its  faculty, 
and  inspired  everybody  connected  with  it  with  something  of  his  own  zeal 
and  enthusiasm.  At  that  time  the  leading  Hiram  men  were  called  Philo- 
matheans,  from  the  society  to  which  they  belonged.  Henry  James,  an 
old  Philomathean,  mentioning  recently  the  master-spirits  of  that  time, 
thus  referred  to  the  president : 

"Then  began  to  grow  up  in  me  an  admiration  and  love  for  Garfield 
that  has  never  abated,  and  the  like  of  which  I  have  never  known.  A  bow 
of  recognition,  or  a  single  word  from  him,  was  to  me  an  inspiration." 

The  young  president  taught,  lectured  and  preached,  and  all  the  time 
studied  as  diligently  as  any  acolyte  in  the  temple  of  knowledge.  His 
scholars  all  regarded  him  with  respect,  admiration  and  affection.  His 
greatness  as  a  teacher  and  administrator  did  not  lie  so  much  in  his  tech- 
nical scholarship,  his  drillmaster  teaching,  or  his  schoolmaster  discipline. 
His  power  was  in  energizing  young  men  and  women.  He  stimulated 


JAMES    ABRAM    GARFIELD.  321 

thought,  aroused  courage,  stiffened  the  moral  fibre,  poured  in  inspiration, 
widened  the  field  of  mental  vision,  and  created  noble  ideal  of  life  and 
character.  He  was  more  than  a  teacher  and  administrator;  the  student 
found  him  a  helper  and  friend. 

As  president  of  an  institute,  it  was  natural  that  Garfield  should  ap- 
pear on  the  platform  on  every  public  occasion.  The  Church  of  the  Dis- 
ciples, as  before  stated,  like  the  Society  of  Friends,  is  accustomed  to  ac- 
cord large  privileges  of  speaking  to  its  laity;  and  so  it  came  to  be  ex- 
pected that  President  Garfield  should  address  his  pupils  on  Sundays — 
briefly  even  when  ministers  of  the  Gospel  were  to  preach — more  at  length 
when  no  one  else  was  present  to  conduct  the  services.  The  remarks  of 
the  young  president  were  always  forcible,  generally  eloquent,  and  the 
community  presently  began  to  regard  him  as  its  foremost  public  speaker, 
to  be  put  forward  on  every  occasion,  to  be  heard  with  attention  on  every 
subject.  His  pupils  also  helped  to  swell  his  reputation  and  the  admira- 
tion for  his  talents. 

During  his  term  as  president  at  Hiram,  he  had  continued  the  study  of 
law,  begun  some  time  before,  and  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  Cuyahoga 
County,  in  1860.  He  also  paid  some  attention  to  Masonry,  into  which 
order  he  was  initiated. 

In  1858  Garfield  married  sweet-faced  Lucretia  Rudolph,  daughter  of 
a  Maryland  farmer,  Zebulon  Rudolph,  from  the  banks  of  the  beautiful 
Shenandoah.  A  neat  little  cottage  was  bought,  fronting  the  college 
campus,  and  the  wedded  life  begun,  poor  in  worldly  goods,  but  wealthy 
in  the  affection  of  brave  hearts.  The  match  was  a  love-match  and  has 
turned  out  very  happily. 

He  attributed  much  of  his  success  in  life  to  his  wise  selection.  His 
wife  had  grown  with  his  growth,  and  was,  during  all  his  career,  the  ap- 
preciative companion  of  his  studies,  the  loving  mother  of  his  children,  the 
graceful,  hospitable  hostess  of  his  friends  and  guests,  and  the  wise  and 
faithful  helpmeet  in  the  trials,  vicissitudes  and  successes  of  his  busy  life. 

Garfield  was  elected  to  the  Ohio  State  Senate  in  1859,  and  soon  took 
a  high  rank  in  that  body,  although  one  of  its  youngest  members. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

GARFIELD  AS  A  SOLDIER  CHOSEN  LIEUTENANT  COLONEL  AND  THEN 
COLONEL  OF  A  REGIMENT — DRIVES  THE  CONFEDERATES  FROM  EAST- 
ERN KENTUCKY — CREATED  A  BRIGADIER  GENERAL — GOOD  WORK  AT 
SHILOH — MADE  CHIEF  OF  STAFF  TO  MAJOR  GENERAL  WILLIAM  S. 
ROSECRANS. 


Garfield  was  an  out-and-out  Union  man,  and  when  it  was  seen  that 
war  with  the  South  must  come  he  assisted  in  raising  several  Ohio  regi- 
ments and  sending  them  to  the  front.  On  August  I4th,  1861,  he  was 
made  Lieutenant  Colonel  of  the  Forty-second  Ohio  Infantry,  but  when 
the  organization  was  completed  he  was  made  its  Colonel. 

Colonel  Garfield  at  once  set  vigorously  to  work  to  master  the  art  and 
mystery  of  war,  and  to  give  his  men  such  a  degree  of  discipline  as  would 
fit  them  for  effective  service  in  the  field.  He  fashioned  companies,  offi- 
cers and  non-commissioned  officers  out  of  his  troops  and  thoroughly  mas- 
tered the  infantry  tactics  in  his  quarters. 

Then  he  organized  a  school  for  the  officers  of  his  regiment,  requiring 
thorough  recitation  in  the  tactics,  and  illustrating  the  manoeuvres  by  the 
blocks  he  had  prepared  for  his  own  instruction.  This  done,  he  insti- 
tuted regimental,  company,  squad,  skirmish  and  bayonet  drill,  and  kept 
his  men  at  these  exercises  from  six  to  eight  hours  a  day,  until  it  was 
universally  admitted  that  no  better  drilled  or  disciplined  regiment  could 
be  found  in  Ohio. 

The  regiment  was  at  Camp  Chase,  near  Columbus,  and  on  December 
I4th,  he  received  orders  to  move  to  Catlettsburg,  Ky.,  department  head- 
quarters being  at  Louisville.  He  reported  there  to  General  Buell  on  the 
ipth,  and  was  informed  that  he  was  to  be  sent  against  General  Humphrey 
Marshall,  who  had  driven  the  Union  forces  as  far  north  as  Prestonburg. 
Kentucky  was  the  prize  at  stake. 

General  Marshall  had  won  laurels  in  the  Mexican  War,  was  a  trained 
soldier  and  an  able  man.  Should  he  unite  with  General  Zollicoffer  at 
Lexington  it  might  mean  the  establishment  of  a  Confederate  State  Pro- 
visional Government.  He,  it  was  also  feared,  might  gather  a  formidable 
force  and  prevent  General  Buell's  advance  into  Tennessee. 

222 


JAMES    ABRAM    GARFIELD.  323 

Colonel  Garfield  had  his  own  regiment  and  was  given  two  others,  one 
half-formed,  and  another  one  hundred  miles  away  in  the  mountains,  con- 
stituting a  provisional  brigade  of  twenty-eight  hundred  men.  With  this 
command  he  was  told  by  General  Buell  to  drive  General  Marshall  from 
Kentucky.  General  Buell  showed  his  confidence  in  Colonel  Garfield  by 
putting  him  at  the  head  of  such  a  forlorn  hope. 

Garfield's  command  was  the  organization  known  as  the  Eighteenth 
Brigade  of  the  Army  of  the  Ohio,  and  he  arrived  with  it  at  Catlettsburg 
on  the  22nd  of  December,  and  on  the  24th  was  at  Louisa,  ready  for  the 
conduct  of  the  Big  Sandy  campaign. 

Garfield's  situation  was  a  critical  one.  General  Marshall  had  five 
thousand  men  and  twelve  pieces  of  artillery,  but  Garfield  did  not  hesitate. 
He  moved  forward  at  once  and  found  the  enemy  at  Paintville,  forcing  him 
to  retreat  with  the  greatest  precipitation.  Then  he  followed  General 
Marshall  to  Middle  Creek,  where  he  found  him  strongly  entrenched. 

January  loth,  1862,  Garfield  attacked  the  enemy,  his  men  climbing 
the  ridges  upon  which  the  Confederates  had  taken  position,  but  as  he  had 
but  fourteen  hundred  men  the  assault  was  not  at  first  successful.  Then, 
placing  himself  at  the  head  of  his  column  Garfield  ordered  a  charge,  in 
the  face  of  which  the  Confederates  broke  and  ran.  The  fight  was  a  hot 
one  as  long  as  it  lasted,  but  with  the  order  to  retreat,  given  by  General 
Marshall  himself,  the  day  was  won  by  the  Union  force.  It  was  the  sal- 
vation of  Kentucky  for  the  Union. 

It  was,  indeed,  a  wonderful  battle.  Edmund  Kirke  said  of  it :  "In 
the  history  of  the  late  war,  there  is  not  another  like  it.  Measured  by 
the  forces  engaged,  the  valor  displayed  and  the  results  that  followed,  it 
throws  into  the  shade  the  achievements  of  even  that  mighty  host  that 
saved  the  nation.  Eleven  hundred  footsore  and  weary  men,  without 
cannon,  charged  up  a  rocky  hill,  over  stumps,  over  stones,  over  fallen 
trees,  over  high  intrenchments,  right  into  the  face  of  five  thousand  fresh 
troops  with  twelve  pieces  of  artillery !" 

Speaking  of  the  engagement,  Garfield  said,  after  he  had  gained  a 
wider  experience  in  war:  "It  was  a  very  rash  and  imprudent  affair  on 
my  part.  If  I  had  been  an  officer  of  more  experience,  I  probably  should 
not  have  made  the  attack.  As  it  was,  having  gone  into  the  army  with 
the  notion  that  fighting  was  our  business,  I  didn't  know  any  better." 

GARFIELD  CONGRATULATES  His  SOLDIERS. 

On  the  day  succeeding  the  battle  he  issued  the  following  address  to 
his  army,  which  tells,  in  brief,  the  story  of  the  campaign : 


324  JAMES    ABRAM    GARFIELD. 

"SOLDIERS  OF  THE  EIGHTEENTH  BRIGADE:  I  am  proud  of  you  all! 
In  four  weeks  you  have  marched,  some  eighty,  and  some  a  hundred 
miles,  over  almost  impassable  roads.  One  night  in  four  you  have  slept, 
often  in  the  storm,  with  only  a  wintry  sky  above  your  heads.  You  have 
marched  in  the  face  of  a  foe  of  more  than  double  your  number,  led  on 
by  chiefs  who  have  won  a  national  renown  under  the  old  flag,  entrenched 
in  hills  of  his  own  choosing,  and  strengthened  by  all  the  appliances  of 
military  art. 

"With  no  experience  but  the  consciousness  of  your  own  manhood, 
you  have  driven  him  from  his  strongholds,  pursued  his  inglorious  flight, 
and  compelled  him  to  meet  you  in  battle.  When  forced  to  fight,  he 
sought  the  shelter  of  rocks  and  hills.  You  drove  him  from  his  position, 
leaving  scores  of  his  bloody  dead  unburied.  His  artillery  thundered 
against  you,  but  you  compelled  him  to  flee  by  the  light  of  his  burning 
stores,  and  to  leave  even  the  banner  of  his  rebellion  behind  him.  I  greet 
you  as  brave  men. 

"Our  common  country  will  not  forget  you.  She  will  not  forget  the 
sacred  dead  who  fell  beside  you,  nor  those  of  your  comrades  who  won 
scars  of  honor  on  the  field.  I  have  recalled  you  from  the  pursuit,  that 
you  may  regain  vigor  for  still  greater  exertions.  Let  no  one  tarnish 
his  well-earned  honor  by  any  act  unworthy  an  American  soldier.  Remem- 
ber your  duties  as  American  citizens,  and  sacredly  respect  the  rights  and 
property  of  those  with  whom  you  may  come  in  contact. 

"Let  it  not  be  said  that  good  men  dread  the  approach  of  an  Ameri- 
can army.  Officers  and  soldiers,  your  duty  has  been  nobly  done.  For 
this  I  thank  you." 

General  Marshall's  flight  spread  consternation  throughout  Sandy 
Valley,  and  Garfield,  to  quiet  the  people,  issued  the  following  proclama- 
tion: 

"CITIZENS  OF  SANDY  VALLEY:  I  have  come  among  you  to  restore 
the  honor  of  the  Union,  and  to  bring  back  the  old  banner  which 
you  once  loved,  but  which,  by  the  machinations  of  evil  men,  and  by 
mutual  misunderstanding,  has  been  dishonored  among  you.  To  those 
who  are  in  arms  against  the  Federal  Government  I  offer  only  the  alter- 
nate of  battle  or  unconditional  surrender. 

"But  to  those  who  have  taken  no  part  in  this  war,  who  are  in  no  way 
aiding  or  abetting  the  enemies  of  this  Union — even  to  those  who  hold 
sentiments  averse  to  the  Union,  but  will  give  no  aid  or  comfort  to  its 


JAMES    ABRAMGARFIELD.  325 

enemies — I  offer  the  full  protection  of  the  Government,  both  in  their 
persons  and  property. 

"Let  those  who  have  been  seduced  away  from  the  love  of  their  country 
to  follow  after  and  aid  the  destroyers  of  our  peace  lay  down  their  arms, 
return  to  their  homes,  bear  true  allegiance  to  the  Federal  Government, 
and  they  shall  also  enjoy  like  protection.  The  Army  of  the  Union  wages 
no  war  of  plunder,  but  comes  to  bring  back  the  prosperity  of  peace. 

"Let  all  peace-loving  citizens  who  have  fled  from  their  homes  return 
and  resume  again  the  pursuits  of  peace  and  industry.  If  citizens  have 
suffered  any  outrages  by  the  soldiers  under  my  command,  I  invite  them 
to  make  known  their  complaints  to  me,  and  their  wrongs  shall  be  redressed 
and  offenders  punished.  '•••;•" 

"I  expect  the  friends  of  the  Union  in  this  valley  to  banish  from 
among  them  all  private  feuds,  and  let  a  liberal  love  of  country  direct  their 
conduct  toward  those  who  have  been  so  sadly  estrayed  and  misguided, 
hoping  that  these  days  of  turbulence  may  soon  be  ended  and  the  days  of 
the  Republic  soon  return.  J.  A.  GARFIELD, 

"Colonel  Commanding  Brigade." 

RECEIVES  THE  THANKS  OF  GENERAL  BUELL. 

Keeping  in  close  touch  with  the  enemy,  Colonel  Garfield  drove  him 
out  of  the  Big  Sandy  region  and  effectually  rid  Eastern  Kentucky  of  the 
foe.  When  the  campaign  was  ended  General  Buell  issued  the  following 
congratulatory  order: 

HEADQUARTERS  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  OHIO, 

LOUISVILLE,  KY.,  January  2Oth,  1862. 
General  Orders,  No.  40. 

The  general  commanding  takes  occasion  to  thank  General  Garfield 
and  his  troops  for  their  successful  campaign  against  the  rebel  force  under 
General  Marshall,  on  the  Big  Sandy,  and  their  gallant  conduct  in  battle. 
They  have  overcome  formidable  difficulties  in  the  character  of  country, 
condition  of  the  roads  and  the  inclemency  of  the  season;  and,  without 
artillery,  have  in  several  engagements,  terminating  in  the  battle  of  Mid- 
dle Creek,  on  the  loth  inst,  driven  the  enemy  from  his  intrenched  posi- 
tion and  forced  him  back  into  the  mountains,  with  a  loss  of  a  large 
amount  of  baggage  and  stores,  and  many  of  his  men  killed  or  captured. 

These  services  have  called  into  action  the  highest  qualities  of  a  sol- 
dier— fortitude,  perseverance  and  courage. 

By  order,  DON  CARLOS  BUELL, 

Major  General  Commanding. 


326  JAMES    ABRAM    GARFIELD. 

The  War  Department,  to  show  its  appreciation,  made  Colonel  Gar- 
field  a  Brigadier  General,  the  commission  bearing  the  date  of  the  battle 
of  Middle  Creek,  January  10,  1862.  And  the  country,  without  under- 
standing very  well  the  details  of  the  campaign,  fully  appreciated  the  tan- 
gible result. 

The  discomfiture  of  Humphrey  Marshall  was  a  source  of  special  cha- 
grin to  the  rebel  sympathizers  in  Kentucky,  and  of  amusement  and 
admiration  throughout  the  loyal  West.  General  Garfield  at  once  took 
rank  in  the  public  estimation,  as  worthily  among  the  most  promising  of 
the  younger  volunteer  generals. 

General  Garfield,  whose  ability  as  a  soldier  had  been  developed  in 
battle,  was  then  sent  to  report  to  General  Buell,  who  assigned  him  to  the 
command  of  the  Twentieth  Brigade,  Army  of  the  Ohio.  The  brigade 
was  immediately  hurried  to  the  relief  of  General  U.  S.  Grant,  and 
arrived  at  Shiloh  in  time  to  form  a  part  of  the  left  wing  of  Grant's  army 
on  the  second  day  of  the  fight. 

It  was  about  I  o'clock  on  the  afternoon  of  April  7th  that  Garfield's 
brigade  reached  the  front,  and  with  a  wild  cheer  his  men  dashed  at  the 
rebels,  he  leading  through  tHe  storm  of  lead.  The  fresh  onslaught, 
in  which  Garfield's  brigade  participated,  changed  the  .fortunes  of  the 
day,  and  the  rebels  were  soon  flying  from  where  they  had  fought  so  long 
and  well. 

The  Union  troops  were  too  much  exhausted  for  pursuit,  and  halting 
in  camps  from  which  they  had  been  driven  the  day  before,  were  content 
with  what  they  had  done.  That  the  War  Department  was  also  content 
was  evident ,  from  the  complimentary  order  issued  to  General  Grant. 

The  next  morning  (the  8th),  Garfield's  brigade  formed  a  part  of 
Sherman's  advance,  and  participated  in  a  sharp  encounter  with  the  ene- 
my's rear  guard,  a  few  miles  beyond  the  battle-field.  The  brigade  formed 
a  part  of  the  Union  advance  upon  Corinth,  to  which  place  Beauregard  had 
retreated.  This  advance  was  slow,  so  slow  that  it  took  six  weeks  to  march 
fifteen  miles.  It  was  not  until  the  21  st  of  May  that  the  armies  were 
fairly  in  line,  three  miles  from  Corinth,  and  everything  ready  for  the 
expected  battle. 

But  all  preparations  for  a  battle  were  of  no  use,  and  when  Halleck 
was  ready  to  engage  Beauregard,  the  latter  was  no  longer  in  Corinth. 
He  had  retreated.  Garfield's  brigade  had  the  empty  honor  of  being  among 
the  earliest  that  entered  the  abandoned  town. 

General  Garfield,  after  being  selected  as  one  of  the  first  members  of 
the  court-martial  of  General  Fitz-John  Porter,  applied  for  service  with 


JAMES    ABRAM    GARFIELD.  327 

General  Hunter  in  South  Carolina.  However,  General  William  S.  Rose- 
crans'  Chief  of  Staff,  General  Garesche,  having  been  killed  at  Stone  River, 
General  Garfield  was  named  for  the  place  and  early  in  January  joined 
his  commander  at  the  headquarters  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

GARFIELD'S  CLOSE  RELATIONS  TO  His  CHIEF,  GENERAL  ROSECRANS — THE 
MOVEMENT  WHICH  ENDED  IN  THE  ASSAULT  AT  CHICKAMAUGA  BY 
GENERAL  BRAGG — GARFIELD  GOES  TO  GENERAL  THOMAS,  "THE 
ROCK/"  AND  REMAINS  UNTIL  THE  UNION  TROOPS  ARE  MASTERS  OF 
THE  BLOODY  FIELD — CLOSE  OF  GARFIELD'S  MILITARY  CAREER. 


General  Garfield  entered  upon  his  new  duties  with  zeal,  remaining 
with  General  Rosecrans  until  after  the  Chattanooga  campaign  and  par- 
ticipating in  the  bloody  battle  of  Chickamauga.  He  soon  gained  his 
General's  confidence  and  was  his  trusted  associate  and  confidential  ad- 
viser. Had  Rosecrans  at  all  times  chosen  to  take  Garfield's  advice  it 
would  no  doubt  have  been  better  for  him. 

General  Rosecrans  lay  at  Murfreesboro  from  January  4th  to  June 
24th,  meanwhile  making  demands  upon  the  War  Department  for  cavalry 
and  revolving  arms.  As  his  demands  were  not  always  couched  in  courte- 
ous terms  friction  arose  between  the  commander  and  Secretary  of  War 
Stanton. 

He  regarded  the  organization  of  his  army  as  vitally  defective  in 
many  points,  and  refused  to  move.  His  generals  were  in  accord  with 
him,  but  his  Chief-of-Staff  was  not.  General  Garfield  urged  an  imme- 
diate forward  movement,  and  carried  the  day,  being  in  sympathy  with 
Secretary  Stanton  in  that  regard.  Had  Rosecrans  moved  a  week  earlier 
he  could  have  crushed  Bragg,  but  unfortunately  the  rainy  season  inter- 
fered with  quick  action. 

On  August  5th  General  Halleck  telegraphed  Rosecrans  peremptory 
orders  to  move.  Rosecrans  quietly  waited  till  the  dispositions  along  his 
extended  lines  were  completed,  till  stores  were  accumulated  and  the  corn 
had  ripened,  so  that  his  horses  could  be  made  to  live  off  the  country.  On 
the  1 5th  he  was  ready. 

The  problem  now  before  him  was  to  cross  the  Tennessee  River  and 
gain  possession  of  Chattanooga,  the  key  to  the  entire  mountain  ranges, 
before  Bragg  had  finished  preparing  to  resist  a  crossing  above. 
Rosecrans,  handling  with  rare  skill  his  various  corps  and  divisions,  had 


Gixrfield  on  the  Canal  Tow-Path 


Garf  ield  AddressingMultitude  in  WallStreet  after  Lincoln'sAssassination 

"GOD  REIGNS,  AND  THE  GOVERNMENT  AT  WASHINGTON  STILI.  LIVES.'' 


The  Assassination  of  President  Ga^rfield 


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JAMES    ABRAM    GARFIELD.  333 

securely  planted  his  army  south  of  the  Tennessee ;  and,  cutting  completely 
loose  from  his  base  of  supplies,  was  already  pushing  southward — his 
flank  next  the  enemy  being  admirably  protected  by  impassable  mountains. 

After  various  manoeuvres,  Bragg  being  in  the  meantime  re-enforced, 
the  Confederate  commander  made  his  attack  upon  Rosecrans  at  Chicka- 
mauga  on  the  iQth  of  September.  Bragg  had  not  less  than  seventy-five 
thousand  men,  and  Rosecrans  but  fifty-five  thousand,  and  even  the  latter 
were  not  concentrated.  But  Rosecrans  was  not  to  be  crushed.  He 
gathered  his  army  together,  repelling  all  assault*  sought  to  hinder  con- 
centration, and  fought  like  a  lion. 

Long  before  General  Thomas'  needed  re-enforcements  had  come,  the 
battle  was  raging  on  his  front  and  flank.  Profoundly  conscious  of  the 
danger,  Rosecrans  sought  to  render  still  further  aid,  and  ordered  over 
Van  Cleve's  division  from  the  right,  directing  the  several  division  com- 
manders and  the  corps  general  to  close  up  the  line  on  the  left.  In  the 
heat  of  the  battle,  which  by  this  time  was  broken  out  along  the  right  also, 
one  of  these  division  commanders — T.  J.  Wood,  of  Kentucky — misunder- 
stood his  orders,  and  though  he  has  subsequently  stated  that  he  knew  the 
consequences  of  his  action  must  be  fatal,  he  chose  to  consider  himself 
bound  by  the  order  to  break  the  line  of  battle  and  march  to  the  rear  of 
another  division. 

Longstreet  perceived  the  gap  and  hurled  Hood  into  it.  The  battle 
on  the  right  was  lost.  The  whole  wing  crumbled;  the  enemy  poured 
forward  and  all  that  was  left  of  McCook's  corps,  a  broken  rabble,  streamed 
back  to  Chattanooga. 

General  Rosecrans  himself  was  caught  in  this  rout  and  borne  along, 
vainly  striving  to  stem  its  tide.  Finally  conceiving  that  if  the  wing  least 
pressed  was  thus  destroyed,  Thomas,  upon  whom  he  knew  the  main 
efforts  of  the  enemy  were  concentrated,  could  not  hold  out  beyond  night- 
fall, he  hastened  to  Chattanooga  to  make  dispositions  for  the  retreat  and 
defense  which  he  already  regarded  as  inevitable.  Meanwhile,  his  chief 
of  staff,  General  Garfield,  was  sent  to  Thomas  to  convey  to  him  informa- 
tion of  what  had  happened  and  of  the  plans  for  the  future. 

GARFIELD  JOINS  THOMAS  AT  CHICKAMAUGA. 

As  chief  of  staff,  it  was  Garfield's  duty  to  remain  with  General 
Rosecrans,  and  it  happened  that  the  latter  established  his  headquarters 
for  the  day  in  the  rear  of  the  right  wing  and  center,  leaving  to  General 
George  H.  Thomas  the  duty  of  directing  the  fortunes  of  the  left  wing. 
McCook  and  Crittenden  were  commanders  of  the  other  two  corps. 


334  JAMES    ABRAM    GARFIELD. 

Shortly  after  the  fog,  which  for  the  most  of  the  morning  enveloped  the 
field,  and  made  manoeuvring  almost  impossible,  the  rebels,  under  Long- 
street,  who_had  come  from  Lee's  Virginia  army  to  take  part  in  the  great 
contest,  made  a  grand  assault  on  the  right  and  center. 

They  were  just  in  time  to  take  advantage  of  Wood's  fatal  mistake, 
which  left  a  gap  in  the  Union  line.  The  rebels  penetrated  far  to  the  rear 
of  the  Federal  line  at  this  point,  and  turning,  drove  back  the  right  of 
Thomas'  forces  and  the  left  of  the  other  two  corps.  The  latter  were 
eventually  routed,  driven  across  the  ridge  of  hills  to  roads  leading  to 
Chattanooga,  toward  which  they  retreated  in  dreadful  disorder  and  panic. 
In  the  tumult  of  defeat  of  the  center  and  right,  McCook,  Crittenden  and 
Rosecrans,  with  their  staff  officers,  were  driven  beyond  the  ridge  named, 
and,  they,  too,  started  for  Chattanooga,  not  knowing  whether  Thomas  had 
been  annihilated  or  had  escaped. 

General  Garfield,  obtaining  permission  from  General  Rosecrans  to 
return  and  join  General  Thomas,  reached  "The  Rock  of  Chickamauga" 
just  after  the  repulse  of  the  enemy  in  a  formidable  assault  all  along 
Thomas'  line,  which  the  rebels  enveloped  on  both  flanks.  He  found 
Thomas  and  his  staff,  General  Gordon  Granger,  General  J.  B.  Steedman, 
General  Wood,  and  others,  grouped  in  a  hollow  of  the  open  field,  a  de- 
pression just  sufficient  to  protect  them  from  the  direct  rebel  fire. 

Garfield  at  once  gave  Thomas  a  brief  account  of  the  disaster  to  the 
right  and  center.  Thomas  in  return  stated  his  own  intention  and  his 
situation.  The  conversation,  however,  was  not  finished,  it  was  cut  short 
by  a  fresh  rebel  assault.  It  was  made  in  great  force  and  with  great 
desperation,  the  rebels  evidently  foreseeing,  that  if  repulsed,  they  could 
not  get  their  troops  in  position  for  yet  another  assault  before  the  sun 
went  down  and  darkness  came  to  the  aid  of  the  enemy. 

The  fire  lasted  furiously  for  half  an  hour,  when  the  rebels  again 
broke  and  abandoned  the  assault.  During  this  desperate  melee  Garfield 
quietly  sat  on  the  ground  behind  a  dead  tree,  and  coolly  indicted  a  dispatch 
to  General  Rosecrans  detailing  the  situation;  and  while  he  sat  there, 
and  during  the  heaviest  of  the  firing,  a  white  dove,  after  hovering  around 
and  above  for  several  minutes,  finally  settled  on  the  topmost  perch  of  the 
tree  above  Garfield's  head.  Here  it  remained  during  the  heat  of  the 
fight,  and  when  the  musketry  ceased,  it  flew  away  to  the  north. 

The  attention  of  Garfield  and  General  Wood  was  called  to  the  bird. 
Garfield  said  nothing,  but  went  on  writing.  Wood  remarked:  "Good 
omen  of  peace/'  Garfield  finished  his  dispatch,  sent  it  by  an  officer,  and 


JAMES    ABRAM    GARFIELD.  335 

himself  remained  on  the  field  with  General  Thomas  until  the  retreat  was 
effected  the  same  night  to  Chattanooga.  At  7  o'clock  that  evening  a 
shotted  salute  of  six  Napoleon  guns  fired  into  the  woods,  after  the  last  of 
the  retreating  assailants,  under  the  personal  supervision  of  General  Gor- 
don Granger  and  General  Garfield,  were  the  last  shots  fired  in  the  battle 
of  Chickamauga.  What  was  left  of  the  Union  Army  was  master  of  the 
field.  For  the  time  the  enemy  evidently  regarded  himself  as  repulsed, 
and  Garfield  said  that  night,  and  has  always  since  maintained,  that  there 
was  no  necessity  for  an  immediate  retreat  on  Rossvilla. 
This  was  Garfield's  last  military  service  of  moment. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

GENERAL  GARFIELD  RESIGNS  FROM  THE  ARMY  TO  ACCEPT  AN  ELECTION 
TO  CONGRESS — GENERAL  ROSECRANS'  ADVICE — GARFIELD  COMPLI- 
MENTED BY  THE  LATTER  FOR  His  SERVICES  AT  THE  BATTLE  OF  CHICK- 
AMAUGA — CREATED  A  MAJOR  GENERAL  OF  VOLUNTEERS — AN  EXAM- 
PLE OF  GARFIELD'S  SENSE  OF  JUSTICE  AND  RIGHT. 

It  was  not  long  after  the  ferocious  struggle  at  Chickamauga  that 
General  Garfield  was  offered  the  Republican  nomination  for  Congress  by 
the  Republicans  of  the  Western  Reserve  (Ashtabula  district).  He  ad- 
vised with  General  Rosecrans  regarding  it,  and  Rosecrans  thought  it  a 
good  idea  for  him  to  accept,  the  best  men  being  needed  in  Congress. 

Said  Rosecrans :  "I  am  glad  for  your  sake  that  you  have  a  new  dis- 
tinction, and  I  certainly  think  you  can  accept  with  honor,  and,  what  is 
more,  I  deem  it  your  duty  to  do  so.  The  war  is  not  over  yet,  nor  will  it 
be  for  some  time  to  come.  There  will  be  of  necessity  many  questions 
arising  in  Congress  which  will  require  not  alone  statesmanlike  treatment, 
but  the  advice  of  men  having  an  acquaintance  with  military  affairs.  For 
this,  and  other  reasons,  I  believe  you  will  be  able  to  do  equally  good 
service  to  your  country  in  Congress  or  in  the  field." 

General  Rosecrans,  in  his  official  report  on  the  battle  of  Chicka- 
mauga, rendered  this  high  praise  to  General  Garfield: 

"To  Brigadier  General  James  A.  Garfield,  Chief-of-Staff,  I  am 
especially  indebted  for  the  clear  and  ready  manner  in  which  he  seized 
the  points  of  action  and  movement,  and  expressed  in  orders  the  ideas  of 
the  general  commanding." 

General  Wood,  also,  in  his  official  report  to  the  commanding  general 
on  the  battle,  said : 

"It  affords  me  much  pleasure  to  signalize  the  presence  with  my 
command,  for  a  length  of  time  during  the  afternoon  (present  during  the 
period  of  hottest  fighting),  of  another  distinguished  officer,  Brigadier 
General  James  A.  Garfield,  Chief  of  the  Staff. 

"After  the  disastrous  rout  on  the  right,  General  Garfield  made  his 
way  back  to  the  battle-field  (showing  clearly  that  the  road  was  open  to  all 


JAMES    ABRAM    GARFIELD.  337 

who  might  choose  to  follow  it),  and  came  to  where  my  command  was 
engaged.  The  brigade  which  made  so  determined  a  resistance  on  the 
crest  of  the  narrow  ridge  during  all  the  long  September  afternoon  had 
been  commanded  by  General  Garfield  when  he  belonged  to  my  division. 

"The  men  remarked  his  presence  with  much  satisfaction,  and  were 
delighted  that  he  was  a  witness  of  the  splendid  fighting  they  were  doing." 

Before  his  resignation  from  the  army  General  Garfield  was  commis- 
sioned Major  General  of  Volunteers,  but  upon  the  solicitation  of  Presi- 
dent Lincoln  he  resigned  on  the  5th  of  December,  1863,  and  entered  Con- 
gress. He  was  a  poor  man,  and  the  salary  of  a  Major  General  was 
more  than  double  that  of  a  Congressman,  but,  upon  reflection,  he  decided 
that  the  circumstances  under  which  the  people  had  elected  him  to  Congress, 
bound  him  to  an  effort  to  obey  their  wishes. 

He  was,  furthermore,  urged  to  enter  Congress  by  the  officers  of  the 
army,  who  looked  to  him  for  aid  in  procuring  such  military  legislation  as 
the  country  and  the  army  required. 

GARFIELD  OBEYS  THE  CALL  OF  DUTY. 

Under  the  belief  that  the  path  of  usefulness  to  the  country  lay  in 
the  direction  in  which  his  constituents  pointed,  he  sacrificed  what  seemed 
to  be  his  personal  interests. 

One  story  should  be  told  of  General  Garfield  before  we  pass  from  his 
military  career  to  that  of  the  future  President  in  Congress.  It  tends 
more  than  anything  else  to  demonstrate  his  keen  sense  of  justice. 

One  day,  a  fugitive  slave  came  rushing  into  the  camp,  with  a  bloody 
head  and  apparently  frightened  almost  to  death.  He  had  only  passed 
the  tent  of  General  Sherman,  when,  in  a  moment,  a  regular  bully  of  a 
fellow  came  riding  up  and,  with  a  volley  of  oaths,  began  to  ask  after  his 
"nigger." 

General  Garfield  was  not  present,  and  the  fellow  passed  on  to  the 
division  commander,  who  happened  to  be  a  sympathizer  with  the  theory 
that  fugitives  should  be  returned  to  their  masters,  and  that  the  Union 
soldiers  should  be  made  instruments  for  returning  them.  He  accordingly 
wrote  a  mandatory  order  to  General  Garfield,  in  whose  command  the 
darkey  was  supposed  to  be  hiding,  telling  him  to  hunt  up  and  deliver 
over  the  property  of  the  outraged  citizen. 

The  staff  officer  who  brought  the  order  stated  the  case  fully  to  Gen- 
eral Garfield  before  handing  him  the  order,  well  knowing  the  general's 
strong  anti-slavery  views.  The  general  took  the  order  and,  after  reading 
it  carefully,  deliberately  wrote  on  it  the  following  indorsement : 


338  JAMES    ABRAMGARFIELD. 

"I  respectfully  but  positively  decline  to  allow  my  command  to  search 
for,  or  deliver  up,  any  fugitive  slaves.  I  conceive  that  they  are  here  for 
quite  another  purpose.  The  command  is  open  and  no  obstacle  will  be 
placed  in  the  way  of  the  search." 

When  the  staff  officer  read  the  General's  indorsement  he  was  inclined 
to  be  frightened,  and  remonstrated  against  Garfield's  determination.  He 
said  if  he  returned  the  order  in  that  shape  to  the  division  commander  he 
certainly  would  arrest  and  court-martial  Garfield.  To  this  the  Ohio 
General  simply  replied: 

"The  matter  may  as  well  be  tested  first  as  last.  Right  is  right,  and 
I  do  not  propose  to  mince  matters  at  all.  My  soldiers  are  here  for  far 
other  purposes  than  hunting  and  returning  fugitive  slaves." 

That  was  the  end  of  the  episode,  for  nothing  more  was  ever  heard 
of  it.  Garfield  had  won  the  victory  for  the  right. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

GENERAL  GARFIELD  IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES  OF  CONGRESS — 
OPPOSITION  TO  His  RE-ELECTION  GRADUALLY  MELTS  AWAY — ELEC- 
TION TO  THE  UNITED  STATES  SENATE — DOES  NOT  TAKE  His  SEAT 
THERE  BECAUSE  OF  His  NOMINATION  AND  ELECTION  TO  THE  PRESI- 
DENCY. 


The  Congressional  District  General  Garfield  represented  in  Con- 
gress was  known  as  the  Nineteenth  Ohio,  which  was  distinguished  by 
the  fact  that  it  had  but  four  representatives  within  the  limits  of  half  a 
century.  No  other  Congressional  district  in  the  country  had  such  a 
record  as  this.  It  was  already  famous  because  of  the  service  Joshua  R. 
Giddings,  one  of  the  most  famous  champions  of  anti-slavery. 

After  Garfield  had  served  his  first  term,  and  was  a  candidate  for  re- 
election, the  rumor  began  to  circulate  that  he  had  written  the  celebrated 
Wade-Davis  manifesto  against  President  Lincoln;  if  he  had  not  he,  at 
least,  so  it  was  said,  was  in  full  and  active  sympathy  with  it. 

Many  of  the  delegates  to  the  Congressional  Convention  which  had 
the  fate  of  General  Garfield  in  its  hands  were  ready  to  vote  against  him 
on  this  account,  and  he  was  called  upon  to  make  an  explanation.  This 
was  repugnant  to  him,  but  he  made  up  his  mind  that  he  would  face  the 
ordeal  and  face  it  bravely. 

Entering  the  convention  hall,  he  walked  up  to  the  platform,  planted 
himself  firmly  on  it,  and  began  a  speech  that  he  must  have  thought  would 
dig  his  political  grave.  He  spoke  only  for  half  an  hour,  and  he  told  his 
hearers  he  had  not  written  the  Wade-Davis  letter,  but  he  had  only  one 
regret  connected  with  it,  and  that  was  that  there  was  a  necessity  for  its 
appearance. 

He  approved  the  letter,  defended  the  motives  of  the  authors,  asserted 
his  right  to  independence  of  thought  and  action,  and  told  the  delegates 
that  if  they  did  not  want  a  free  agent  for  their  representative,  they  had 
better  find  another  man,  for  he  did  not  desire  to  serve  them  longer. 

As  he  warmed  up  to  his  subject  he  captivated  the  convention  with 
his  plain,  hard  reasoning  and  his  glowing  eloquence.  When  he  had  fin- 
ished speaking,  he  left  the  platform  and  strode  out  of  the  hall.  As  he 

339 


340  JAMES    ABRAM    GARFIELD. 

reached  the  front  of  the  stairs,  on  his  way  out  of  the  building,  he  heard 
a  great  noise,  which  he  imagined  was  the  signal  of  his  unanimous  rejec- 
tion. On  the  contrary,  it  was  the  applause  that  followed  his  nomination 
by  acclamation. 

His  very  boldness  had  stunned  the  convention,  expecting,  as  it  did, 
something  entirely  different  from  the  party  leader.  It  was  some  seconds 
before  anything  was  said,  but  finally  an  Ashtabula  delegate  got  on  his 
feet,  and  said: 

"By ,  the  man  who  can  face  a  convention  like  that,  ought  to  be 

nominated  by  acclamation."  It  didn't  take  the  convention  long  to  find 
out  that  it  entertained  a  similar  admiration  for  his  independence  and 
pluck,  and  the  result  was  as  related,  before  his  opponents  in  the  convention 
had  time  to  open  their  mouths. 

Governor  Todd  closed  the  meeting  with  the  remark:  "A  district 
that  will  allow  a  young  fellow  like  Garfield  to  tweak  its  nose  and  cuff 
its  ears  in  that  manner,  deserves  to  have  him  saddled  on  it  for  life." 

Garfield  was,  in  fact,  "saddled"  upon  the  district,  but  not  for  life — 
only  as  long  as  it  was  absolutely  necessary.  Garfield  was  called  to  higher 
offices  before  the  district  became  tired  of  him.  He  was  chosen  to  the 
United  States  Senate  ere  the  district  became  aware  of  the  fact  that  he 
had  outgrown  its  limits,  and  before  the  voters  of  that  vicinity  awoke  to 
the  situation  he  was  nominated  and  elected  to  the  Presidency  of  the 
United  States. 

GARFIELD'S  TRIUMPHANT  RE-ELECTION  TO  CONGRESS. 

At  the  election  for  his  second  term  General  Garfield  received  a 
majority  of  twelve  thousand,  and  the  Speaker  of  the  House  made  him  a 
member  of  the  Committee  on  Ways  and  Means.  During  this  term  he 
worked  incessantly,  and  gained  steadily  in  public  estimation.  He  deliv- 
ered a  most  noteworthy  address  in  the  House  on  the  Constitutional 
Amendment  to  abolish  slavery,  and  from  the  Committee  on  Military  Af- 
fairs, on  which  he  had  been  appointed,  made  a  report  on  the  discharge  of 
soldiers  who  enlisted  to  fill  old  regiments. 

He  made  noted  speeches  also  on  the  "Freedman's  Bureau"  and  the 
"Restoration  of  the  Rebel  States,"  on  the  "Public  Debt  and  Specie  Pay- 
ments," and  on  "The  National  Bureau  of  Education."  On  March  6th 
of  this  year  ('66)  he  argued  the  L.  P.  Milligan  conspiracy  case  against 
the  Government,  appealed  to  the  Supreme  Court  from  the  courts  of  In- 
diana. General  Benjamin  Butler,  Hon.  James  Speed,  Hon.  Henry  Stan- 
berry  appeared  for  the  United  States,  and  with  Mr.  Garfield  for  the 


JAMES    ABRAM    GARFIELD.  341 

petitioners  were  the  Hon.  J.  A.  McDonald,  Hon.  J.  S.  Black  and  Hon. 
David  Dudley  Field.  Mr.  Garfield's  argument  was  most  elaborate  and 
bristled  with  precedents  and  telling  points.  Its  peroration  was  as  follows : 

"It  is  in  your  power,  O  Judges !  to  erect  in  this  citadel  of  our  liber- 
ties a  monument  more  lasting  than  brass ;  invisible  indeed  to  the  eye  of 
flesh,  but  visible  to  the  eye  of  the  spirit,  as  the  awful  form  and  figure 
of  justice,  crowning  and  adorning  the  Republic;  rising  above  the  storms 
of  political  strife,  above  the  din  of  battle,  above  the  earthquake  shock 
of  rebellion ;  seen  from  afar  and  hailed  as  protector  by  the  oppressed  of 
all  nations;  dispensing  equal  blessings,  and  covering  with  the  protecting 
shield  of  law  the  weakest,  the  humblest,  the  meanest,  and,  until  declared 
by  solemn  law  unworthy  of  protection,  the  guiltiest  of  its  citizens." 

Time  after  time  was  General  Garfield  re-elected,  in  spite  of  sporadic 
opposition  to  him.  In  1878  his  majority  was  nine  thousand  six  hundred 
and  thirteen,  the  opposition  being  reduced  to  nothing.  Those  who  had, 
before  that,  been  arrayed  against  him,  were  now  the  warmest  friends  he 
had.  He  had  passed  through  numerous  storms  unscathed,  and  by  many 
was  deemed  beyond  the  reach  of  defeat. 

When  the  Legislature  of  Ohio  met  to  choose  a  United  States  Senator 
to  succeed  Senator  Allen  G.  Thurman,  whose  term  was  to  expire  in 
1 88 1,  the  Republicans  of  his  State  could  see  no  man  but  Garfield.  His 
name  was  on  every  lip.  The  entire  State  looked  to  him,  and  he  was 
triumphantly  elected  to  the  Senate  by  a  majority  of  both  the  Senate  and 
House  of  the  Ohio  Assembly.  In  the  caucus  he  was  named  by  a  rising 
vote — a  unanimous  nomination — a  compliment  never  given  to  any  man 
in  that  State  before. 

He  was  not  destined  to  take  his  seat  in  the  United  States  Senate,  for 
the  simple  reason  that  he  was  nominated  and  elected  to  the  Presidency 
before  he  could  have  assumed  his  duties  in  the  Upper  House  of  Congress. 

Then  came  the  apothesis  and  the  tragedy. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

GENERAL  GARFIELD  IN  His  HOME  LIFE  AT  MENTOR  AND  WASHINGTON — 
His  WIFE  SHARED  His  INTELLECTUAL  TASTES — DESCRIPTION  OF  His 
Two  HOMES — A  VISIT  TO  THE  PRESIDENT-ELECT — His  CHILDREN — 
LIBRARY  IN  THE  WASHINGTON  HOUSE  WHERE  HE  SPENT  MOST  OF 
His  TIME. 


General  Garfield  was  peculiarly  happy  in  his  home  life.  He  had  two 
residences — at  Mentor  in  Ohio,  and  at  Washington.  The  house  at  Men- 
tor could  not  be  called  a  mansion  in  any  sense  of  the  word.  It  was  merely 
a  very  pleasant,  comfortable,  cosy  country  home,  but  there  he  spent  many 
of  the  happiest  hours  of  his  life.  The  house  at  Washington,  which  he 
exchanged  for  the  White  House,  was  furnished  plainly  but  serviceably, 
and  contained  his  large  and  valuable  library,  which  was  absolutely  neces- 
sary to  him  for  purposes  of  reference. 

The  architecture  of  the  Mentor  home,  as  described  by  a  visitor  at  the 
time  of  his  election  to  the  Presidency,  is  composite,  the  Gothic  sentiment 
prevailing.  There  are  two  dormer  windows — one  in  front  and  one  in  the 
rear — and  a  broad  veranda  extends  across  the  front  and  part  of  the  side 
toward  Cleveland,  affording  opportunities  to  enjoy  the  breezes,  out  of 
the  heat  of  the  sun.  Lattice  work  has  been  arranged  for  trailing  vines. 
The  dimensions  are  sixty  feet  front  by  fifty  deep. 

The  apartments  are  all  roomy  for  a  country  house  and  the  hallway 
is  so  wide  that  it  attracts  attention  the  moment  you  enter.  The  first  floor 
contains  a  hall,  with  a  large  writing-table,  a  sitting-room,  parlor,  dining- 
room,  kitchen,  wash-room  and  pantry.  This  last  on  the  plan  bears  the 
generous  indorsement  "plenty  of  shelves  and  drawers." 

Upstairs  in  the  rear  part  of  the  second  floor  is  a  room  that  on  the 
plan  is  entitled  "snuggery  for  general."  It  is  rather  small,  measuring 
only  thirteen  and  a  half  by  fourteen  feet.  It  is  filled  up  with  book  shelves, 
but  it  is  not  intended  to  usurp  the  place  of  the  library,  a  separate  building 
outside  and  to  the  northeast  of  the  house.  Two  of  the  best  apartments  in 
the  eastern  and  front  part  on  this  floor  are  especially  fitted  up  for  occu- 
pancy of  the  general's  mother.  The  front  room  has  a  large  old-fashioned 

342 


JAMES    ABRAM    GARP1ELD.  343 

fire-place  and  the  greatest  pains  have  evidently  been  taken  to  make  this 
room  a  Mecca  of  comfort. 

The  rooms  are  finished  in  hard  woods,  and  everything  about  the  place, 
while  plain  and  unpretentious,  gives  it  an  appearance  of  quiet  comfort. 
There  are  very  few  of  the  timbers  of  the  old  house,  over  which  the  new 
has  been  constructed,  visible  at  this  time,  and  there  will  be  none  in  sight 
when  the  carpets  are  laid  down. 

The  cost  of  the  structure  when  finished  was  between  three  thousand 
five  hundred  and  four  thousand  dollars.  The  barn,  at  the  rear,  furnishes 
accommodations  for  the  two  carriage-horses,  the  single  carriage-horse, 
and  the  heavy  working  team. 

Of  the  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  comprising  the  farm,  the  yard, 
garden  and  orchard  take  up  about  twelve.  Some  seventy  acres  are  under 
tillage,  and  the  rest  are  in  pasture  and  woodland. 

This  same  visitor,  who  called  upon  the  General  at  his  home,  wrote : 

"I  could  easily  appreciate,  seated  on  his  veranda,  all  I  had  heard  about 
his  fondness  for  the  country ;  being,  as  I  saw  him  to  be,  essentially  a  home 
man,  and,  perhaps,  he  has  never  quite  appreciated  the  possession  of  a 
home  so  much  as  he  does  now,  in  his  days  of  rest,  after  the  bustle  and 
excitement  of  the  past  few  weeks. 

"His  habits,  I  am  told,  are  regular  and  methodical.  Rising  early,  he 
frequently  mounts  his  horse  and  goes  over  the  farm,  directing  the  work- 
men and  studying  out  what  suggests  itself  as  a  needed  improvement. 
Quite  as  often,  instead  of  mounting  his  horse,  he  walks  about  the  place  and, 
if  the  fever  seizes  him,  jerks  off  his  coat  to  hold  the  plow  in  the  furrow,  or 
to  rake  hay.  It  reminds  him  of  old  times,  and  is,  of  itself,  invigorating 
exercise. 

"He  has  a  great  taste  for  improvements,  and  has  made  something  of 
a  study  of  farming  since  his  early  experience  as  a  practical  yeoman.  He 
farms,  therefore,  scientifically.  He  interests  himself  in  the  affairs  of  the 
village,  and  attends  the  Disciples'  Church,  where  he  sometimes  speaks. 
The  liberal  people  of  Mentor  on  one  occasion  invited  him  to  say  something 
about  the  formation  of  a  Murphy  Temperance  Society. 

"They  were  much  pleased  when,  in  his  earnest,  impressive  way,  he 
told  them  he  was  not  a  believer  in  total  abstinence,  while  cautioning  the 
young  against  the  evil  of  immoderate  drinking,  and  earnestly  urging  them 
to  check  and  control  their  appetite." 


344  JAMES    ABRAM    GARFIELD. 

GARFIELD'S  PRIDE  IN  His  COUNTRY  HOME. 

Garfield  was  fond  of  showing  visitors  over  the  place,  and  especially 
fond  of  taking  them  down  the  lane  back  of  the  house  to  the  top  of  the 
ridge,  and  explaining  that  the  flat  space  below  was  once  a  portion  of  Lake 
Erie  before  the  blue  waters  receded  and  left  the  sand  and  wave-washed 
pebbles  on  the  top  of  the  ridge. 

His  love  of  literature  was  early  manifested,  received  a  great  impulse 
while  at  Williams'  College,  and  grew  steadily  while  professor  of  languages 
and  president  of  Hiram  College.  Even  at  the  time  of  his  election  to  the 
Presidency  his  most  congenial  recreation  was  the  study  of  classical  litera- 
ture, and  it  was  related  of  him  that  during  a  busy  session  of  Congress  he 
was  found  behind  a  big  barricade  of  books,  which  proved  upon  examina- 
tion to  be  different  editions  of  Horace,  and  works  relating  to  that  poet. 

"I  find  I  am  overworked,  and  need  recreation,"  he  said.  "Now,  my 
theory  is  that  the  best  way  to  rest  the  mind  is  not  to  let  it  lie  idle,  but  to 
put  it  at  something  quite  outside  the  ordinary  line  of  employment.  So,  I 
am  resting  by  learning  all  the  Congressional  Library  can  show  about 
Horace,  and  the  various  editions  and  translations  of  his  poems." 

An  application  of  this  theory  to  his  every-day  life  made  him  a  stu- 
dent, and  ripened  a  scholarship  rare  among  public  men.  The  record  of 
the  Congressional  Library  showed  that  he  used  more  books  than  any  mem- 
ber of  Congress.  The  number  of  volumes  taken  from  the  library  in  one 
year  and  read  and  examined  by  him,  was  never  exceede4  by  any  man  who 
ever  used  the  library  except  Charles  Sumner.  He  read  everything — his- 
tories, novels,  newspapers,  etc.,  and  a  wide  range  of  miscellanous  matter. 
Outside  of  the  early  classics,  Shakespeare  was  his  favorite  poet,  and 
Tennyson  was  oftener  in  his  hand  than  any  other  song-writer  of  modern 
times.  His  novel  reading  was  a  peculiarly  happy  illustration  of  his  char- 
acter, as  it  was,  so  to  speak,  confined  to  Thackeray,  Scott,  Dickens,  Kings- 
ley,  Jane  Austen  and  Horace  de  Balzac.  His  books  all  bear  his  library 
motto :  "Inter  Folio  Fructus,"  "Fruit  Between  Leaves." 

His  house  in  Washington  was  at  the  corner  of  Thirteenth  and  I 
Streets,  and  with  money  borrowed  from  a  friend,  he  built  a  substantial 
house.  The  money  was  repaid  in  time,  and  was  probably  saved  in  great 
part  from  what  would  otherwise  have  gone  to  landlords.  The  Washing- 
ton house  was  clear  of  incumbrances,  and  worth  between  ten  and  twelve 
thousand  dollars.  The  Mentor  farm  was  valued  at  about  nine  thousand 
dollars. 

The  Washington  house  was  square,  with  a  wing  on  the  east  side  com- 


JAMBS'    ABRAM    GARFIELD.  345 

prising  a  dining-room  and  library.  The  parlor  side  windows  looked  out 
upon  the  pleasing  prospect  of  the  park.  On  entering  on  the  south  side 
the  parlor  was  found  on  the  left,  comfortably  but  not  lavishly  furnished. 
Just  over  the  piano  was  a  portrait  of  General  Garfield's  mother.  To  the 
right  was  a  cosy  sitting-room  furnished  in  tasteful  modesty. 

In  the  rear  of  this,  and  occupying  a  portion  of  the  wing  was  a  some- 
what luxurious  dining-room — luxurious  in  color  and  decoration.  The 
paper  was  a  rich  drab  and  brown,  set  off  by  a  dado  of  Japanese  pattern. 
Over  the  mantel  there  hung  a  relic  of  an  idea,  a  half  portrayed  inspira- 
tion. The  General  one  evening,  in  the  company  of  some  literary  and 
artistic  men,  in  the  course  of  a  discussion  on  Shakespeare,  remarked  that 
none  of  the  illustrations  by  Falstaff  satisfied  his  conception.  An  artist 
present  begged  him  to  describe  his  ideal,  and  from  the  description  then 
given  attempted  the  picture  over  the  mantel.  The  artist  dying  before  it 
was  completed,  the  half-finished  sketch  was  framed  by  the  General  and 
placed  where  it  then  hung.  The  finished  portion  embraced  the  figure  of 
the  rollicking  knight  leaning  his  right  arm  on  the  inn  table,  and  balancing; 
in  his  left  hand  an  empty  glass.  In  the  background  the  "drawer"  was 
bringing  in  a  fresh  cup  of  "sack." 

The  particular  shrine  in  the  Garfield  home  to  which  one  willingly 
hastened  his  steps  was  the  library,  situated  just  over  the  dining-room. 
This  was  the  man  of  energy's  workshop.  It  was  here  the  student  and 
the  scholar  lived.  The  room  was  about  twenty-five  feet  by  fourteen  feet, 
three  of  its  windows  opening  on  I  Street  and  one  on  the  eastern  side. 
Occupying  the  centre  was  a  double  walnut  office  desk, 'with  the  addition 
of  pigeon-holes,  and  boxes,  and  drawers  on  one  end,  while  just  above 
hung  a  heavy  chandelier.  It  was  very  evident  from  the  orderly  disorder 
of  the  room  that  the  owner  cared  far  more  for  immediate  convenience  than 
general  symmetry.  Half  a  dozen  book-cases  occupied  the  available  space 
around  the  walls,  and  three  thousand  volumes  fill  their  shelves.  No  two 
of  these  cases  were  of  the  same  height,  width  or  make.  It  suggested  to 
the  visitor  that  from  time  to  time,  as  the  books  overflowed  their  limits, 
another  case  was  hastily  procured  in  which  to  accommodate  the  surplus, 
and  when  that  was  full  another  was  added,  and  so  on.  Undoubtedly  the 
overflow  was  regular,  as  everywhere  in  the  General's  home  one  came  face 
to  face  with  books. 

Mrs.  Garfield  was  a  thoroughly  domestic  woman,  while  at  the  same 
time  imbued  with  her  husband's  intellectual  tastes.  She  bore  the  Presi- 
dent six  children,  the  first,  a  daughter,  dying  in  infancy.  The  others  were 


346  JAMES    ABRAM    GARFIELD. 

Harry  Augustus,  James  R.,  Mary,  or  "Mollie,"  married  to  J.  Stanley 
Brown,  her  father's  secretary  in  the  White  House,  Irvin  McDowell,  and 
Abram. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

PRESIDENT  GARFIELD  AS  A  STATESMAN,  PHILOSOPHER,  POLITICIAN  AND 
POLITICAL  ECONOMIST — AN  ACTIVE  PARTICIPANT  IN  ALL  THE  DE- 
BATES IN  THE  LOWER  HOUSE  OF  CONGRESS — "GARFIELD'S  BUDGET 
SPEECHES" — His  ARTICLE  ON  "A  CENTURY  IN  CONGRESS." 


President  Garfield's  fame  and  name  as  a  statesman  are  secure.  He 
always  had  the  best  interests  of  his  country  at  heart,  and  he  only  advo- 
cated those  measures  calculated  to  benefit  the  country. 

He  entered  Congress  in  1863  and  was  a  member  of  that  body  for 
seventeen  years.  During  all  that  momentous  period  he  was  an  active 
participant  in  the  events  transpiring  there,  and  he  left  the  imprint  of  his 
ability  and  patriotism  as  thoroughly  upon  the  legislation  of  the  country 
as  any  one  man  ever  in  public  service.  He  certainly  realized  the  mean- 
ing of  the  title,  "a  public  benefactor."  That  term  was  well  defined  in 
his  own  words,  from  a  speech  made  on  December  10,  1878: 

"The  man  who  wants  to  serve  his  country  must  put  himself  in  the 
line  of  its  leading  thought,  and  that  is  the  restoration  of  business,  trade, 
commerce,  industry,  sound  political  economy,  hard  money  and  the  pay- 
ment of  all  obligations,  and  the  man  who  can  add  anything  in  the  direc- 
tion of  accomplishing  any  of  these  purposes  is  a  public  benefactor." 

No  man  with  such  an  ideal  could  fail  to  at  once  take  high  rank.  Nor 
did  Garfield  fail  to  do  so.  At  the  outset  he  was  recognized  as  a  leader,  and 
his  influence  grew  with  his  service. 

One  of  his  early  speeches  in  Congress  gave  him  high  oratorical  rank. 
Alexander  Long,  of  Ohio,  delivered  in  1864  an  exceedingly  ultra  Peace- 
Democratic  speech — proposing  that  Congress  should  recognize  the  South- 
ern Confederacy.  The  speech  attracted  marked  attention,  and  by  com- 
mon consent  it  was  left  to  the  young  member,  so  fresh  from  the  battle- 
fields of  his  country,  to  reply.  The  moment  Long  took  his  seat,  Garfield 
rose.  His  opening  sentence  thrilled  his  listeners. 

In  a  moment  he  was  surrounded  by  a  crowd  of  members  from  the 
remoter  seats,  and  in  the  midst  of  great  excitement  and  wild  applause 
from  his  side  he  poured  forth  an  invective  rarely  surpassed  in  that  body 
for  power  and  elegance: 

347 


348  JAMES    ABRAM    GARFIELD. 

"MR.  CHAIRMAN  :  I  am  reminded  by  the  occurrences  of  this  after- 
noon of  two  characters  in  the  War  of  the  Revolution,  as  compared  with 
two  others  in  the  war  of  today. 

"The  first  was  Lord  Fairfax,  who  dwelt  near  the  Potomac,  a  few 
miles  from  us.  When  the  great  contest  was  opened  between  the  mother 
country  and  the  colonies,  Lord  Fairfax,  after  a  protracted  struggle  with 
his  own  heart,  decided  that  he  must  go  with  the  mother  country.  He 
gathered  his  mantle  about  him  and  went  over  grandly  and  solemnly. 

"There  was  another  man,  who  cast  his  lot  with  the  struggling  colo- 
nists and  continued  with  them  till  the  war  was  well-nigh  ended.  In  an 
hour  of  darkness  that  just  preceded  the  glory  of  morning,  he  hatched  the 
treason  to  surrender  forever  all  that  had  been  gained  by  the  enemies  of 
his  country.  Benedict  Arnold  was  that  man. 

"Fairfax  and  Arnold  find  their  parallel  in  the  struggle  of  today. 

"When  this  war  was  begun  many  good  men  stood  hesitating  and 
doubting  what  they  ought  to  do.  Robert  E.  Lee  sat  in  his  house  across 
the  river  here,  doubting  and  delaying,  and  going  off  at  last  almost  tear- 
fully to  join  the  army  of  his  State.  He  reminds  one  in  some  respects  of 
Lord  Fairfax,  the  stately  royalist  of  the  Revolution. 

"But  now,  when  tens  of  thousands  of  brave  souls  have  gone  up  to 
God  under  the  shadow  of  the  flag;  when  thousands  more,  maimed  and 
shattered  in  the  contest,  are  sadly  awaiting  the  deliverance  of  death; 
now,  when  three  years  of  terrific  warfare  have  raged  over  us,  when  our 
armies  have  pushed  the  rebellion  back  over  mountains  and  rivers,  and 
crowded  it  into  narrow  limits  until  a  wall  of  fire  girds  it;  now,  when 
the  uplifted  hand  of  a  majestic  people  is  about  to  hurl  the  bolts  of  its  con- 
quering power  upon  the  rebellion,  now  in  the  quiet  of  this  hall,  hatched 
in  the  lowest  depths  of  a  similar  dark  treason,  there  rises  a  Benedict 
Arnold  and  proposes  to  surrender  all  up,  body  and  spirit,  the  nation  and 
the  flag,  its  genius  and  its  honor,  now  and  forever  to  the  accursed  traitors 
to  our  country.  And  that  proposition  comes — God  forgive  and  pity  my 
beloved  State — it  comes  from  a  citizen  of  the  time-honored  and  loyal 
commonwealth  of  Ohio. 

"I  implore  you,  brethren,  in  this  House,  to  believe  that  not  many 
births  ever  gave  pangs  to  my  mother  State,  such  as  she  suffered  when 
that  traitor  was  born !  I  beg  you  not  to  believe  that  on  the  soil  of  that 
State  such  another  growth  has  ever  deformed  the  face  of  nature,  and 
darkened  the  light  of  God's  day !" 


Guiteaxi  Behind  the  Bars 


The  Temple  of  Music,  BuffaJo  Exposition 

(The  building  iu  which  the  President  was  shot.) 


JAMES    ABRAM    GARFIELD.  353 

The  speech  continued  in  the  same  strain,  polished  and  powerful.  Its 
delivery  upon  the  spur  of  the  moment,  in  immediate  reply  to  an  elaborate 
effort,  which  had  taken  him  as  well  as  the  rest  of  the  House  by  surprise, 
won  him  a  crowning  credit. 

BEGINS  STUDY  OF  FINANCIAL  AND  POLITICAL  ECONOMY. 

General  Garfield,  as  soon  as  he  had  entered  the  Lower  House  of 
Congress,  began  a  course  of  study  of  financial  and  political  economy 
which  afterward  stood  him  in  the  very  best  stead. 

His  financial  views  were  always  sound  and  based  on  the  firm  founda- 
tion of  honest  money  and  unsullied  national  honor.  His  record  in  the 
legislation  concerning  these  subjects  was  without  a  flaw.  No  man  in 
Congress  made  a  more  consistent  and  unwavering  fight  against  the  paper 
money  delusions  that  flourished  during  the  decade  following  the  war,  and 
in  favor  of  specie  payments  and  the  strict  fulfillment  of  the  nation's  obli- 
gations to  its  creditors.  His  speeches  became  the  financial  gospel  of  the 
Republican  party. 

In  the  course  of  his  fight  against  the  repeal  of  the  resumption  act, 
General  Garfield  said: 

"The  men  of  1862  knew  the  dangers  from  sad  experience  in  our 
history,  and,  like  Ulysses,  lashed  themselves  to  the  mast  of  public  credit 
when  they  embarked  upon  the  stormy  and  boisterous  sea  of  inflated  paper 
money,  that  they  might  not  be  beguiled  by  the  siren  song  that  would  be 
sung  to  them  when  they  were  afloat  on  the  wild  waves. 

"But  the  times  have  changed ;  new  men  are  on  deck,  men  who  have 
forgotten  the  old  pledges,  and  now  only  twelve  years  have  passed  ( for  as 
late  as  1865  this  House,  with  but  six  dissenting  votes,  resolved  again 
to  stand  by  the  old  ways  and  bring  the  country  back  to  sound  money), 
only  twelve  years  have  passed,  and  what  do  we  find  ? 

"We  find  a  group  of  theorists  and  doctrinaires  who  look  upon  the 
wisdom  of  the  fathers  as  foolishness.  We  find  some  who  advocate  what 
they  call  'absolute  money,'  who  declare  that  a  piece  of  paper  stamped  a 
'dollar'  is  a  dollar ;  that  gold  and  silver  are  a  part  of  the  barbarism  of  the 
past,  which  ought  to  be  forever  abandoned.  We  hear  them  declaring  that 
resumption  is  a  delusion  and  a  snare. 

"We  hear  them  declaring  that  the  eras  of  prosperity  are  the  eras  of 
paper  money.  They  point  us  to  all  times  of  inflation  as  periods  of 
blessing  to  the  people  and  prosperity  to  business;  and  they  ask  us  no 
more  to  vex  their  ears  with  any  allusion  to  the  old  standard — the  money 
of  the  Constitution. 


354  ,     JAMES    ABRAM    GARFIELD. 

"Let  the  wild  swarm  of  financial  literature  that  has  sprung  into  life 
within  the  last  twelve  years,  witness  how  widely  and  how  far  we  hare 
drifted.  We  have  lost  our  old  moorings,  and  have  thrown  overboard 
our  old  compass;  we  sail  by  alien  stars,  looking  not  for  the  haven,  but 
are  afloat  on  a  harborless  sea. 

"Suppose  you  undo  the  work  that  Congress  has  attempted — to  resume 
specie  payment — what  will  result?  You  will  depreciate  the  value  of  the 
greenback.  Suppose  it  falls  ten  cents  on  the  dollar?  You  will  have 
destroyed  ten  per  cent  of  the  value  of  every  deposit  in  the  savings  bank, 
ten  per  cent  of  every  life  insurance  policy  and  fire  insurance  policy,  and 
of  every  day's  wages  of  every  laborer  in  the  nation. 

"The  trouble  with  our  greenback  dollar  is  this:  it  has  two  distinct 
functions,  one  a  purchasing  power,  and  the  other  a  debt-paying  power. 
As  a  debt-paying  power,  it  is  equal  to  one  hundred  cents ;  that  is,  to  pay 
an  old  debt. 

"A  greenback  dollar  will,  by  law,  discharge  our  hundred  cents  of 
debt.  But  no  law  can  give  it  purchasing  power  in  the  general  market 
of  the  world,  unless  it  represents  a  known  standard  of  coin  value.  Now, 
what  we  want  is,  that  these  two  qualities  of  our  greenback  dollar  shall  be 
made  equal — its  debt-paying  power  and  its  general  purchasing  power. 
When  these  are  equal,  the  problems  of  our  currency  are  solved,  and  not 
till  then. 

"Summing  it  all  up  in  a  word,  the  struggle  now  pending  in  this 
House  is,  on  the  one  hand,  to  make  the  greenback  better,  and  on  the 
other,  to  make  it  worse.  The  resumption  act  is  making  it  better  every 
day.  Repeal  that  act,  and  you  make  it  indefinitely  worse.  In  the  name 
of  every  man  who  wants  his  own  when  he  has  earned  it,  I  demand  that  we 
do  not  make  the  wages  of  the  poor  man  to  shrivel  in  his  hands  after  he 
has  earned  them;  but  that  his  money  shall  be  made  better  and  better, 
until  the  plow-holder's  money  shall  be  as  good  as  the  bond-holder's  money ; 
until  our  standard  is  one,  and  there  is  no  longer  one  money  for  the  rich 
and  another  for  the  poor." 

ALWAYS  VOTED  TO  SUSTAIN  THE  CREDIT. 

He  never  wavered  upon  this  issue.  He  voted  to  sustain  the  credit  of 
the  Government  in  all  stages  of  the  finance  question.  Many  faltered,  but 
he  always  stood  firm. 

A  mind  so  prone  as  his  to  look  philosophically  into  his  surroundings 
could  not  fail  to  have  studied  into  the  history  and  functions  of  the  body 
of  which  he  was  such  an  illustrious  member.  In  July,  1877,  he  contrib- 


JAMES    ABRAM    GARFIELD.  355 

uted  to  the  Atlantic  Monthly  an  article  entitled  "A  Century  in  Congress," 
in  which  he  embodied  his  views  ot  the  same: 

"Congress  has  always  been  and  must  always  be  the  theater  of  con- 
tending opinions,  tke  forum  where  the  opposing  forces  of  political  phil- 
osophy meet  to  measure  their  strength ;  where  the  public  good  must  meet 
the  assaults  of  local  and  sectional  interests,  in  a  word,  the  appointed  place 
where  the  nation  seeks  to  utter  its  thoughts  and  register  its  will. 

"In  the  main,  the  balance  of  power  so  admirably  adjusted  and  dis- 
tributed among  the  three  great  departments  of  the  Government  has  been 
safely  preserved.  It  was  the  purpose  of  our  fathers  to  lodge  absolute 
power  nowhere;  to  leave  each  department  independent  within  its  own 
sphere;  yet,  in  every  case,  responsible  for  the  exercise  of  its  discretion. 
But  some  dangerous  innovations  have  been  made. 

"And  first,  the  appointing  power  of  the  President  has  been  seriously 
encroached  upon  by  Congress,  or  rather  by  the  members  of  Congress. 
Curiously  enough,  this  encroachment  originated  in  the  act  of  the  Chief 
Executive  himself.  The  fierce  popular  hatred  of  the  Federal  party,  which 
resulted  in  the  elevation  of  Jefferson  to  the  Presidency,  led  that  officer 
to  set  the  first  example  of  removing  men  from  office  on  account  of  political 
opinions.  For  political  causes  alone  he  removed  a  coasiderable  number 
of  officers  who  had  recently  been  appointed  by  President  Adams,  and  thus 
set  the  pernicious  example. 

"His  immediate  successors  made  only  a  few  removals  for  political 
reasons.  But  Jackson  made  his  political  opponents,  who  were  in  office, 
feel  the  full  weight  of  his  executive  hand.  From  that  time  forward  the 
civil  offices  of  the  Government  became  the  prizes  for  which  political  par- 
ties strove;  and  twenty-five  years  ago,  the  corrupting  doctrine  that  'to 
the  victors  belong  the  spoils'  was  shamelessly  announced  as  an  article  of 
political  faith  and  practice.  It  is  hardly  possible  to  state  with  adequate 
force  the  noxious  influence  of  this  doctrine.  *  *  * 

"The  present  system  invades  the  independence  of  the  executive,  and 
make  him  less  responsible  for  the  character  of  his  appointments ;  it  impairs 
the  efficiency  of  the  legislator,  by  diverting  him  from  his  proper  sphere  of 
duty,  and  involving  him  in  the  intrigues  of  aspirants  for  office ;  it  degrades 
the"  civil  service  itself,  by  destroying  the  personal  independence  of  those 
who  are  appointed ;  it  repels  from  the  service  those  high  and  manly  quali- 
ties which  are  so  necessary  to  a  pure  and  efficient  administration;  and, 
finally,  it  debauches  the  public  mind  by  holding  up  public  office  as  the 
reward  of  mere  party  zeal. 


356  JAMES    ABRAM    GARFIELD. 

"To  reform  this  service  is  one  of  the  highest  and  most  imperative 
duties  of  statesmanship.  This  reform  cannot  be  accomplished  without  a 
complete  divorce  between  Congress  and  the  Executive  in  the  matter  of 
appointments.  It  will  be  a  proud  day  when  an  administrator,  Senator 
or  Representative,  who  is  in  good  standing  in  his  party,  can  say  as  Thomas 
Hughes  said,  during  his  recent  visit  to  this  country,  that  though  he  was 
on  the  'most  intimate  terms  with  the  members  of  his  administration,  yet 
it  was  not  in  his  power  to  secure  the  removal  of  the  humblest  clerk  in  the 
civil  service  of  his  government.' 

"I  have  long  believed  that  the  official  relations  between  the  Executive 
and  Congress  should  be  more  open  and  direct.  They  are  now  conducted 
by  correspondence  with  the  presiding  officers  of  the  two  Houses,  by  con- 
sultation with  committees,  or  by  private  interviews  with  individual  mem- 
bers. This  frequently  leads  to  misunderstandings,  and  may  lead  to  cor- 
rupt combinations. 

"It  would  be  far  better  for  both  departments  if  the  members  of  the 
Cabinet  were  permitted  to  sit  in  Congress  and  participate  in  the  debates 
on  measures  relating  to  their  several  departments — but,  of  course,  without 
a  vote.  This  would  tend  to  secure  the  ablest  men  for  the  chief  execu- 
tive offices,  it  would  bring  the  policy  of  the  administration  into  the  fullest 
publicity  by  giving  both  parties  ample  opportunity  for  criticism  and 
defense. 

"The  most  alarming  feature  of  our  situation  is  the  fact  that  so  many 
citizens  of  high  character  and  solid  judgment  pay  but  little  attention  to 
the  sources  of  political  power,  to  the  selection  of  those  who  shall  make 
their  laws.  The  clergy,  the  faculties  of  colleges,  and  many  of  the  leading 
business  men  of  the  community  never  attend  the  township  caucus,  the 
city  primaries  or  the  county  conventions ;  but  they  allow  the  less  intelli- 
gent and  the  more  selfish  and  corrupt  members  of  the  community  to  make 
the  slates  and  'run  the  machine'  of  politics. 

"They  wait  until  the  machine  has  done  its  work,  and  then,  in  surprise 
and  horror  at  the  ignorance  and  corruption  in  public,  sigh  for  the  return 
of  that  mythical  period  called  the  'better  and  purer  days  of  the  Republic.' 
It  is  precisely  this  neglect  of  the  first  steps  in  our  political  processes  that 
has  made  possible  the  worst  evils  of  our  system.  Corrupt  and  incompetent 
presidents,  judges  and  legislators  can  be  removed,  but  when  the  fountains 
of  political  power  are  corrupted,  when  voters  themselves  become  venal 
and  elections  fraudulent,  there  is  no  remedy  except  by  awakening  the 


357 

public  conscience  and  bringing  to  bear  upon  the  subject  the  power  of  pub- 
lic opinion  and  the  penalties  of  the  law. 

"The  practice  of  buying  and  selling  votes  at  our  popular  elections 
has  already  gained  a  foothold,  though  it  has  not  gone  as  far  as  in  England. 

"In  a  word,  our  national  safety  demands  that  the  fountains  of  political 
power  shall  be  made  pure  by  intelligence,  and  kept  pure  by  vigilance; 
that  the  best  citizen  shall  take  heed  to  the  selection  and  election  of  the 
worthiest  and  most  intelligent  among  them  to  hold  seats  in  the  national 
legislature ;  and  that  when  the  choice  has  been  made,  the  continuance  of 
their  representatives  shall  depend  upon  his  faithfulness,  his  ability  and  his 
willingness  to  work." 

General  Garfield's  first  speech  of  any  length,  on  January  28,  1864,  in 
the  House  of  Representatives,  gave  ample  promise  in  the  bud  of  the 
flowers  of  powerful  oratory  so  soon  to  bloom.  It  was  a  reply  to  his 
Democratic  colleague,  Mr.  Finck,  and  was  in  favor  of  the  confiscation  of 
rebel  property.  We  quote  from  its  brilliant  passages : 

"The  war  was  announced  by  proclamation,  and  it  must  end  by  proc- 
lamation. We  can  hold  the  insurgent  States  in  military  subjection  half  a 
century — if  need  be,  until  they  are  purged  of  their  poison  and  stand  up 
clean  before  the  country. 

"They  must  come  back  with  clean  hands,  if  they  come  at  all.  I  hope 
to  see  in  all  those  States  the  men  who  fought  and  suffered  for  the  truth, 
tilling  the  fields  on  which  they  pitched  their  tents.  I  hope  to  see  them, 
like  old  Kasper  of  Blenheim,  on  the  summer  evenings,  with  their  children 
upon  their  knees,  and  pointing  out  the  spot  where  brave  men  fell  and 
marble  commemorates  it. 

***** 

"I  deprecate  these  apparently  partisan  remarks ;  it  hurts  me  to  make 
them,  but  it  hurts  me  more  to  know  they  are  true.  I  conclude  by  return- 
ing once  more  to  the  resolution  before  me.  Let  no  weak  sentiments  of 
misplaced  sympathy  deter  us  from  inaugurating  a  measure  which  will 
cleanse  our  nation  and  make  it  the  fit  home  of  freedom  and  a  glorious 
manhood. 

"Let  us  not  despise  the  severe  wisdom  of  our  Revolutionary  fathers, 
when  they  served  their  generation  in  a  similar  way.  Let  the  republic 
drive  from  its  soil  the  traitors  that  have  conspired  against  its  life,  as  God 
and  His  angels  drove  Satan  and  his  host  from  Heaven.  He  was  not  too 
merciful  to  be  just,  and  to  hurl  down  in  chains  and  everlasting  darkness 
the  'traitor  angel'  who  'first  broke  peace  in  Heaven/  and  rebelled  against 
Him." 


358  JAMBS    ABRAM    GARFIELD. 

FAVORS  THE  ENCOURAGEMENT  OF  ENLISTMENTS. 

Soon  after  he  spoke  in  favor  of  the  payment  of  prompt  and  liberal 
bounties  by  the  Federal  Government  to  encourage  enlistments,  and  rapidly 
earned  Congressional  reputation. 

This  readiness  at  trenchant  debating  proved,  in  some  respects,  injurious 
to  his  rising  fame.  He  spoke  so  readily  that  members  were  constantly 
asking  his  services  in  behalf  of  favorite  measures.  He  thus  came  to  be 
too  frequent  a  speaker,  and  the  House  wearied  a  little  of  his  polished 
periods,  and  began  to  think  him  too  fond  of  talking. 

His  superior  knowledge,  too,  used  to  offend  some  of  his  less  learned 
colleagues  at  first.  They  thought  him  bookish  and  pedantic,  until  they 
found  how  solid  and  useful  was  his  store  of  knowledge,  and  how  perti- 
nent to  the  business  in  hand  were  the  drafts  he  made  upon  it. 

But  this  in  time  wore  off.  His  genial  personal  ways  soon  made  him 
many  warm  friends,  and  reaction  set  in.  The  men  of  brains  in  both 
houses,  and  in  the  departments,  were. not  long  in  discovering  that  here  was 
a  fresh,  strong,  intellectual  force  that  was  destined  to  make  its  mark  upon 
the  politics  of  the  country. 

They  sought  his  acquaintance,  and  before  he  had  been  long  in  Wash- 
ington he  had  the  advantage  of  the  best  society  in  the  National  Capital. 

As  a  politician  President  Garfield  took  no  rank  with  Presidents 
Lincoln  and  McKinley.  He  cared  nothing  for  the  details  of  party  organi- 
zations, leaving  that  work  to  others.  He  never  attempted  to  manage  con- 
ventions, nor  did  he  ever  participate  in  the  manipulations  so  necessary 
in  perfecting  the  details  of  attack  and  defense.  He  was  peculiarly  a  man 
of  thought  and  study. 

He  was  plodding  in  a  way,  but  not  in  the  mastery  of  things  which 
brought  him  political  preferment.  While  in  Congress  he  never  won  a 
nomination  or  election  save  by  his  services  to  his  party  in  speeches  during 
the  campaigns  and  his  work  in  the  House. 

When  General  Garfield  entered  Congress  he  observed  that  no  one 
devoted  himself  to  an  examination  of  the  appropriations  in  detail,  and 
in  order  to  acquaint  himself  so  as  to  vote  intelligently  upon  them,  he  sub- 
mitted them  to  a  careful  analysis.  This  analysis  he  yearly  delivered  to  the 
House,  and  it  was  from  the  start  well  received.  It  came  in  time  to  be 
called  "Garfield's  budget  speech."  Each  year  he  examined  the  appropria- 
tions carefully — being  a  member  of  the  committee — and  then  made  his 
speech,  which  was  always  accepted  as  the  exposition  of  the  nation's  con- 
dition. By  its  means  and  his  committee  work  he  largely  reduced  the 


JAMES    ABRAMGARFIELD.  359 

expenditures  of  the  Government  and  thoroughly  reformed  the  system 
of  estimates  and  appropriations,  providing  for  closer  accountability  on  the 
part  of  those  who  spend  the  public  money,  and  a  clear  knowledge  on  the 
part  of  those  who  vote  it  of  what  it  is  used  for. 

Illustrating  this  he  said  on  one  occasion: 

"The  necessary  expenditures  of  the  Government  form  the  base  line 
from  which  we  measure  the  amount  of  our  taxation  required,  and  on 
which  wa  base  our  system  of  finance.  We  have  frequently  heard  it  re- 
marked since  the  session  began,  that  we  should  make  our  expenditures' 
come  within  our  revenues — that  we  should  'cut  our  garment  according  to 
our  cloth.' 

"This  theory  may  be  correct  when  applied  to  private  affairs,  but  it  is 
not  applicable  to  the  wants  of  nations.  Our  national  expenditures  should 
be  measured  by  the  real  necessities  and  the  proper  needs  of  the  Govern- 
ment. We  should  cut  our  garment  so  as  to  fit  the  person  to  be  clothed. 
If  he  be  a  giant  we  must  provide  cloth  sufficient  for  a  fitting  garment. 

"The  Committee  on  Appropriations  are  seeking  earnestly  to  reduce 
the  expenditures  of  the  Government,  but  they  reject  the  doctrine  that 
they  should  at  all  hazards  reduce  the  expenditures  to  the  level  of  the  reve- 
nues, however  small  those  revenues  may  be.  They  have  attempted  rather  to 
ascertain  what  are  the  real  and  vital  necessities  of  the  Government ;  to  find 
what  amount  of  money  will  suffice  to  meet  all  its  honorable  obligations,  to 
carry  on  all  its  necessary  and  essential  functions,  and  to  keep  alive  those 
public  enterprises  which  the  country  desires  its  Government  to  undertake 
and  accomplish. 

"When  the  amount  of  expenses  necessary  to  meet  these  objects  is 
ascertained,  that  amount  should  be  appropriated,  and  ways  and  means 
for  procuring  that  amount  should  be  provided.  On  some  accounts,  it  is 
unfortunate  that  our  work  of  appropriations  is  not  connected  directly 
with  the  work  of  taxation.  If  this  were  so,  the  necessity  of  taxation 
would  be  a  constant  check  upon  extravagance,  and  the  practice  of  economy 
would  promise,  as  its  immediate  result,  the  pleasure  of  reducing  taxation." 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

THE  POWER  AND  INFLUENCE  EXERTED  BY  GENERAL  GARFIELD  OVER  THE 
MINDS  AND  PASSIONS  OF  His  FELLOW-CITIZENS — STILLING  THE  PAS- 
SIONS OF  THE  GREAT  THRONG  IN  WALL  STREET  THE  DAY  SUCCEEDING 
PRESIDENT  LINCOLN'S  ASSASSINATION. 


Being  a  natural  leader  of  men,  born  to  command  and  sway  and  in- 
fluence those  around  him  by  the  magic  o;f  his  voice,  General  Garfield  never 
appeared  in  a  more  heroic  light  than  on  the  day  succeeding  the  assassina- 
tion of  President  Lincoln. 

General  Garfield  was  in  New  York  City  at  that  time.  It  was  a  period 
of  great  peril.  No  one  could  know  what  the  outcome  was  likely  to  be. 
The  strongest  and  most  frightful  passions  had  been  aroused,  and  the 
people  were  ripe  for  anything.  At  a  word,  at  the  bidding  of  some  hot- 
headed enthusiast,  they  might,  particularly  in  the  great  centers  of  popula- 
tion, have  descended  to  tragic  excesses. 

How  General  Garfield,  in  a  few  words,  calmed  the  gigantic  crowd 
gathered  in  Wall  street  is  thus  told  by  a  prominent  man  who  was  on  the 
spot  at  the  time: 

"I  shall  never  forget  the  first  time  I  saw  General  Garfield.  It  was 
the  morning  after  President  Lincoln's  assassination.  The  country  was 
excited  to  its  utmost  tension,  and  New  York  City  seemed  ready  for  the 
scenes  of  the  French  revolution. 

"The  intelligence  of  Lincoln's  murder  had  been  flashed  by  the  wires 
over  the  whole  land.  The  newspaper  head-lines  of  the  transaction  were 
set  up  in  the  largest  type,  and  the  high  crime  was  on  every  one's  tongue. 
Fear  took  possession  of  men's  minds  as  to  the  fate  of  the  Government, 
for  in  a  few  hours  the  news  came  on  that  Seward's  throat  was  cut,  and 
that  attempts  had  been  made  upon  the  lives  of  others  of  the  Government 
officers. 

"Posters  were  stuck  up  everywhere,  in  great  black  letters,  calling 
upon  the  loyal  citizens  of  New  York,  Brooklyn,  Jersey  City  and  neighbor- 
ing places  to  meet  around  the  Wall  Street  Exchange  and  give  expression 

360 


JAMES    ABRAM    GARFIELD.  361 

to  their  sentiments.  It  was  a  dark  and  terrible  hour.  What  might  come 
next  no  one  could  tell,  and  men  spoke  with  bated  breath. 

"The  wrath  of  the  workingmen  was  simply  uncontrollable,  and  revolv- 
ers and  knives  were  in  the  hands  of  thousands  of  Lincoln's  friends,  ready, 
at  the  first  opportunity,  to  take  the  law  into  their  own  hands,  and  avenge 
the  death  of  their  martyred  President  upon  any  and  all  who  dared  to  utter 
a  word  against  him. 

"Eleven  o'clock  a.  m.  was  the  hour  set  for  the  rendezvous.  Fifty 
thousand  people  crowded  around  the  Exchange  building,  cramming  and 
jamming  the  streets,  and  wedged  in  tigKt  as  men  could  stand  together. 
With  a  few  to  whom  a  special  favor  was  extended,  I  went  over  from 
Brooklyn  at  9  a.  m.,  and,  even  then,  with  the  utmost  difficulty,  found  my 
way  to  the  reception  room  for  the  speakers  in  the  front  of  the  Exchange 
building,  and  looking  out  on  the  high  and  massive  balcony,  whose  front 
was  protected  by  a  heavy  iron  railing. 

"We  sat  in  solemnity  and  silence,  waiting  for  General  Butler,  who, 
it  was  announced,  had  started  from  Washington,  and  was  either  already 
in  the  city  or  expected  every  moment.  Nearly  a  hundred  generals,  judges, 
statesmen,  lawyers,  editors,  clergymen  and  others  were  in  that  room  wait- 
ing Butler's  arrival.  We  stepped  out  to  the  balcony  to  watch  the  fear- 
fully solemn  and  swaying  mass  of  people. 

"Not  a  hurrah  was  heard,  but  for  the  most  part  a  dead  silence,  or  a 
deep,  ominous  muttering  ran  like  a  rising  wave  up  the  street  toward 
Broadway,  and  again  down  toward  the  river  on  the  right.  At  length  the 
batons  of  the  police  were  seen  swinging  in  the  air,  far  up  on  the  left,  part- 
ing the  crowd  and  pressing  it  back  to  make  way  for  a  carriage  that  moved 
slowly  and  with  difficult  jogs,  through  the  compact  multitude. 

"Suddenly  the  silence  was  broken,  and  the  cry  of  'Butler !'  'Butler !' 
'Butler !'  rang  out  with  tremendous  and  thrilling  effect,  and  was  taken  up 
by  the  people.  But  not  a  hurrah !  Not  once !  It  was  the  cry  of  a  great 
people,  asking  to  know  how  their  President  died.  The  blood  bounced  in 
our  veins,  and  the  tears  ran  like  streams  down  our  faces. 

"How  it  was  done  I  forget,  but  Butler  was  pulled  through  and  pulled 
up,  and  entered  the  room,  where  we  had  just  walked  back  to  meet  him. 
A  broad  crape,  a  yard  long,  hung  from  his  left  arm — terrible  contrast  with 
the  countless  flags  tEat  were  waving  the  nation's  victory  in  the  breeze. 
We  first  realized,  then,  the  truth  of  the  sad  news  that  Lincoln  was  dead. 

"When  Butler  entered  the  room  we  shook  hands.  Some  spoke,  some 
could  not ;  all  were  in  tears.  The  only  word  Butler  had  for  us  all,  at  the 
first  break  of  silence,  was,  'Gentlemen,  he  died  in  the  fullness  of  his  fame!' 


362  JAMES    ABRAM    GARFIELD. 

and  as  he  spoke  it  his  lips  quivered  and  the  tears  ran  fast  down  his 
cheeks. 

"Then,  after  a  few  moments,  came  the  speaking.  And  you  can 
imagine  the  effect,  as  the  crape  fluttered  in  the  wind,  while  his  arm  was 
uplifted.  Dickinson,  of  New  York  State,  was  fairly  wild.  The  old  man 
leaped  over  the  iron  railing  of  the  balcony  and  stood  on  the  very  edge, 
overhanging  the  crowd,  gesticulating  in  the  most  vehement  manner,  and 
almost  bidding  the  crowd  'burn  up  the  rebel,  seed,  root  and  branch/  while 
a  bystander  held  on  to  his  coat-tails  to  keep  him  from  falling  over. 

"By  this  time  the  wave  of  popular  indignation  had  swelled  to  its 
crest.  Two  men  lay  bleeding  on  one  of  the  side  streets,  the  one  dead, 
the  other  next  to  dying;  one  on  the  pavement,  the  other  in  the  gutter. 
They  had-  said  a  moment  before  that  'Lincoln  ought  to  have  been  shot 
long  ago !'  They  were  not  allowed  to  say  it  again. 

"Soon  two  long  pieces  of  scantling  stood  out  above  the  heads  of  the 
crowd,  crossed  at  the  top  like  the  letter  X,  and  a  looped  halter  pendent  from 
the  junction,  a  dozen  men  following  its  slow  motion  through  the  masses, 
while  'Vengeance'  was  the  cry.  On  the  right,  suddenly,  the  shout  rose, 
The  World!'  'the  World!'  'the  office  of  the  World!'  'World!'  'World!' 
and  a  movement  of  perhaps  eight  thousand  or  ten  thousand  turning  their 
faces  in  the  direction  of  that  building  began  to  be  executed. 

"It  was  a  critical  moment.  What  might  come  no  one  could  tell,  did 
that  crowd  get  in  front  of  that  office.  Police  and  military  would  have 
availed  little  or  been  too  late.  A  telegram  had  just  been  read  from  Wash- 
ington, 'Seward  is  dying.' 

"Just  then,  at  that  juncture,  a  man  stepped  forward  with  a  small  flag 
in  his  hand,  and  beckoned  to  the  crowd.  'Another  telegram  from  Wash- 
ington !'  And  then,  in  the  awful  stillness  of  the  crisis,  taking  advantage 
of  tHe  hesitation  of  the  crowd,  whose  steps  had  been  arrested  for  a  moment, 
a  right  arm  was  lifted  skyward,  and  a  voice,  clear  and.  steady  ?  loud  and 
distinct,  spoke  out,  'Fellow-citizens!  Clouds  and  darkness  are  round 
about  Him!  His  pavilion  is  dark  waters  and  thick  clouds  of  the  skies! 
Justice  and  judgment  are  the  establishment  of  His  throne!  Mercy  and 
truth  shall  go  before  His  face !  Fellow-citizens !  God  reigns,  and  the  Gov- 
ernment at  Washington  still  lives !' 

"The  effect  was  tremendous.  The  crowd  stood  riveted  to  the  ground 
with  awe,  gazing  at  the  motionless  orator,  and  thinking  of  God  and  the 
security  of  the  Government  in  that  hour.  As  the  boiling  wave  subsides 


JAMES    ABRAMGARFIELD.  363 

and  settles  to  the  sea,  when  some  strong  wind  beats  it  down,  so  the  tumult 
of  the  people  sank  and  became  still.  All  took  it  as  a  divine  omen. 

"It  was  a  triumph  of  eloquence,  inspired  by  the  moment,  such  as  falls 
to  but  one  man's  lot,  and  that  but  once  in  a  century.  The  genius  of  Web- 
ster, Choate,  Everett,  Seward,  never  reached  it.  What  might  have  hap- 
pened had  the  surging  and  maddened  mob  been  let  loose,  none  can  tell. 
The  man  for  the  crisis  was  on  the  spot,  more  potent  than  Napoleon's  guns 
at  Paris. 

"I  inquired  what  was  his  name.  The  answer  came  in  a  low  whisper, 
'It  is  General  Garfield,  of  Ohio.' " 

At  another  meeting  in  the  same  city,  he  spoke  upon  the  great  event : 

"By  this  last  act  of  madness,  it  seems  as  though  the  Rebellion  had 
determined  that  the  President  of  the  soldiers  should  go  with  the  soldiers 
who  have  laid  down  their  lives  on  the  battle-field.  They  slew  the  noblest 
and  gentlest  heart  that  ever  put  down  a  rebellion  upon  this  earth.  In 
taking  that  life  they  have  left  the  iron  hand  of  the  people  to  fall  upon  them. 

"Love  is  on  the  front  of  the  throne  of  God,  but  justice  and  judgment, 
with  inexorable  dread,  follow  behind;  and  when  the  law  is  slighted  and 
mercy  despised,  when  they  have  rejected  those  who  would  be  their  best 
friends,  then  comes  justice  with  her  hoodwinked  eyes,  and  with  the  sword 
and  scales.  From  every  gaping  wound  of  your  dead  chief,  let  the  voice 
go  up  from  the  people  to  see  to  it  that  our  house  is  swept  and  garnished. 

"I  hasten  to  say  one  thing  more,  fellow-citizens.  For  mere  vengeance 
I  would  do  nothing.  This  nation  is  too  great  to  look  for  mere  revenge. 
But  for  security  of  the  future  I  would  do  everything." 

SPEECH  ON  THE  DEATH  OF  PRESIDENT  LINCOLN. 

General  Garfield  delivered  the  speech  when  the  House  took  official 
action  on  the  death  of  President  Lincoln,  and  it  was  he,  again,  who  (Feb- 
ruary 12,  1878),  retouched  with  his  eloquent  powers  the  same  theme  on 
receiving  F.  B.  Carpenter's  painting  of  Lincoln  and  Emancipation,  on 
behalf  of  the  nation. 

It  was  eminently  natural  that  he  should  have  been  chosen  on  such 
occasions,  for  every  act  of  his  life  has  been  a  testimony  in  defense  of  his 
country ;  that  country  which  he  loves  so  well.  Speaking  on  its  future,  he 
said,  at  Hudson  College : 

"Our  great  dangers  are  not  from  without.  We  do  not  live  by  the 
consent  of  any  other  nation.  We  must  look  within  to  find  elements  of 
danger.  The  first  and  most  obvious  of  these  is  territorial  expansion, 


364  JAMES    ABRAM    GARFIELD. 

overgrowth,  and  the  danger  that  we  shall  break  to  pieces  by  our  own 
weight.  This  has  been  the  commonplace  of  historians  and  publicists  for 
many  centuries,  and  its  truth  has  found  many  striking  illustrations  in  the 
experience  of  mankind. 

"But  we  have  fair  ground  for  believing  that  new  conditions  and  new 
forces  have  nearly,  if  not  wholly,  removed  the  ground  of  this  danger. 
Distance,  estrangement,  isolation  have  been  overcome  by  the  recent  amaz- 
ing growth  in  the  means  of  intercommunication.  For  political  and  indus- 
trial purposes  California  and  Massachusetts  are  nearer  neighbors  today 
than  were  Philadelphia  and  Boston  in  the  days  of  the  Revolution.  It  was 
distance,  isolation,  ignorance  of  separate  parts,  that  broke  the  cohesive 
force  of  the  great  empires  of  antiquity. 

"Fortunately,  our  greatest  line  of  extension  is  from  east  to  west, 
and  our  pathway  along  the  parallels  of  latitude  are  not  too  broad  for 
safety — for  it  lies  within  the  zone  of  national  development.  The  Gulf  of 
Mexico  is  our  special  providence  on  the  south.  Perhaps  it  would  be  more 
fortunate  for  us  if  the  northern  shore  of  that  gulf  stretched  westward  to 
the  Pacific.  If  our  territory  embraced  the  tropics,  the  sun  would  be  our 
enemy.  'The  stars  in  their  courses'  would  fight  against  us.  Now  these 
celestial  forces  are  our  friends,  and  help  to  make  us  one.  Let  us.  hope  the 
Republic  will  be  content  to  maintain  this  friendly  alliance. 

"Our  northern  boundary  is  not  yet  wholly  surveyed.  Perhaps  our 
neighbors  across  the  lakes  will  some  day  take  a  hint  from  nature,  and 
save  themselves  and  us  the  dicomfort  of  an  artificial  boundary.  Re- 
strained within  our  present  southern  limits  with  a  population  more  homo- 
geneous than  that  of  any  other  great  nation,  and  with  a  wonderful  power 
to  absorb  and  assimilate  to  our  own  type  the  European  races  that  come 
among  us,  we  have  but  little  reason  to  fear  that  we  shall  be  broken  up 
by  divided  interests  and  internal  feuds,  because  of  our  great  territorial 
extent.  Finally,  our  great  hope  for  the  future — our  great  safeguard 
against  danger,  is  to  be  found  in  the  general  and  thorough  education  of 
our  people  and  in  the  virtue  which  accompanies  such  education.  And  all 
these  elements  depend,  in  a  large  measure,  upon  the  intellectual  and  moral 
culture  of  the  young  men  who  go  out  from  our  higher  institutions  of 
learning.  From  the  standpoint  of  this  general  culture  we  may  trustfully 
encounter  the  perils  that  assail  us.  Secure  against  dangers  from  abroad, 
united  at  home  by  the  strongest  ties  of  common  interest  and  patriotic 
pride,  holding  and  unifying  our  vast  territory  by  the  most  potent  forces  of 
civilization,  relying  upon  the  intelligent  strength  and  responsibility  of 


JAMES    ABRAMGARFIELD.  365 

each  citizen,  and,  most  of  all,  upon  the  power  of  truth,  without  undue 
arrogance,  we  may  hope  that  in  the  centuries  to  come  our  Republic  will 
continue  to  live  and  hold  its  high  place  among  the  nations  as 

"  'The  heir  of  all  the  ages  in  the  foremost  files  of  time.' " 


Abraham  Lincoln 
(From  an  untouched  negative  in  the  possession  of  M.  P.  Rics.    Copyrighted) 


BOOK    III. 


Abraham   Lincoln, 

The  Great  Emancipator. 


Born  Hardin  County,  Ky.,  February  12,  1809. 

Family  removed  to  Spencer  County,  Ind.,  1816. 

Death  of  his  mother,  1818. 

Family  removed  to  Macon  County,  111.,  1830. 

Captain  in  the  Black  Hawk  War,  1832. 

Fails  in  grocery  business  at  New  Salem,  1833. 

Lincoln's  Love  Romance,  1835. 

Elected  to  Legislature  several  times. 

Admitted  to  the  bar,  1837. 

"  Duel "  with  General  James  Shields,  1842. 

X 

Marriage  to  Mary  Todd,  November  4,  1842. 

Elected  to  Congress,  1846. 

Debates  with  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  1858. 

Nominated  for  President,  1860. 

Election  to  the  Presidency,  November  6,  1860. 

Emancipation  Proclamation  issued,  January  1,  1863. 

Re-nomination  and  re-election,  1864. 

Shot  by  John  Wilkes  Booth,  April  14,  1865. 

Died  April  15,  1865. 


BOOK  III 


Lincoln, 

The  Great  Emancipator. 


CHAPTER   XXVIII. 

THE  ASSASSINATION  OF  PRESIDENT  LINCOLN  THE  FIRST  OF  A  SERIES  OF 
THREE — How  IT  Is  THAT  CHIEF  MAGISTRATES  OF  THE  REPUBLIC 
ARE  EASY  PREY  FOR  MURDERERS — LINCOLN  DID  NOT  LIKE  TO  BE 
SURROUNDED  BY  GUARDS — LAMON'S  WARNING. 


The  first  great  shock  sustained  by  the  people  of  the  United  States,  a 
shock  which  spread  alarm  and  terror  throughout  the  country  because  of 
its  very  unexpectedness,  was  the  assassination  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  six- 
teenth President  of  the  United  States,  and,  in  reality,  the  most  repre- 
sentative man — the  man  closest  to  the  "common  people" — who  had,  up 
to  1 86 1,  ever  sat  in  the  Executive  chair. 

Until  John  Wilkes  Booth,  in  his  fierce  and  frightful  frenzy,  took  the 
life  of  the  Great  Emancipator,  the  thought  that  any  man  would  dare 
raise  his  hand  against  the  chosen  head  of  the  Nation  never  entered  the 
minds  of  the  citizens  of  the  Republic.  Kings,  Emperors,  Queens  and 
other  monarchs  had  fallen  beneath  the  blows  dealt  by  murderers,  but  there 
was  no  justifiable  reason  why  a  man  elected  from  and  by  the  people  of 
the  United  States  to  the  Presidency  should  die  as  tyrants  have  died  in 
the  past. 

Lincoln  was  not  an  oppressor  of  the  people ;  on  the  contrary,  he  was 
a  liberator.  Lincoln  was  not  a  ruler  who  trod  upon  the  rights  of  the 
people ;  he  deprived  no  man  of  his  liberty ;  he  sought  the  maintenance  of 
the  Union,  and  was  the  controlling  influence  in  crushing  all  attempts  at 
disunion;  he  sought  only  the  good  of  the  country  and  its  inhabitants — 
and  yet  he  was  slain  by  a  cowardly,  treacherous  assassin. 

Since  the  death  of  Lincoln  two  other  Presidents  of  the  United  States 

873 


374  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

have  suffered  from  the  hatred  of  those  who  sought  to  do  harm  to  the 
cause  of  liberal  government  by  destroying  the  ruler  of  a  nation  of  free- 
men. President  Garfield  yielded  up  his  life  after  months  of  terrible  suffer- 
ing, and  President  McKinley  fell  at  the  feet  of  a  man  he  had  never  seen. 

It  may  with  truth  be  said  that  these  repeated  blows  fell  quite  as 
heavily  upon  the  people  of  other  nations  as  upon  our  own.  If  the  heads 
of  state  of  the  mighty  North  American  Republic  were  not  safe,  what, 
then,  was  the  status  of  the  sovereigns  and  rulers  of  other  countries,  in 
none  of  which  was  the  voice  of  the  people  the  guiding  power  ? 

President  Lincoln,  while  he  did  not  live  in  a  state  of  apprehension — 
he  was  too  brave  a  man  to  entertain  the  slightest  fear  for  his  own  per- 
sonal safety — often  expressed  the  opinion  that  he  would  not  live  out  his 
second  term  in  the  Presidential  chair.  He  was  in  the  White  House  at 
a  time  when  the  country  was  rent  in  twain  by  fratricidal  strife,  when  the 
fiercest  passions  of  men  were  aroused,  and  he  well  knew  that,  at  any  time, 
some  reckless  spirit  might  strike  him  down  from  motives  of  revenge.  He 
had  seen  the  bloodiest  civil  war  in  all  history,  during  which  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  men  had  given  up  their  lives,  and  he  was  prepared  for  his 
own  immolation  upon  the  altar — a  vicarious  sacrifice  for  the  good  of 
the  nation  he  loved  so  well. 

It  was  different  with  Presidents  Garfield  and  McKinley.  One  felt 
the  murderous  rage  of  the  disappointed  office-seeker ;  the  other  the  vin- 
dictive, revengeful  wrath  of  the  coldblooded  anarchist  who  slew  for  the 
mere  pleasure  of  slaying.  There  may  have  been  a  purpose  in  the  assassi- 
nation of  President  Lincoln,  for  John  Wilkes  Booth  warmly  espoused 
the  cause  of  the  South;  Guiteau  and  the  deadly  anarchistic  Pole  who 
shot  Presidents  Garfield  and  McKinley  had  no  cause  to  espouse,  and 
consequently  their  crimes  were  purposeless. 

In  a  country  like  the  United  States,  where  there  is  absolutely  no  es- 
pionage upon  the  movements  of  the  people,  it  is  the  easiest  thing  in  the 
world  to  kill  the  President,  who  comes  in  contact  with  the  people  every 
day  of  his  life.  Where  the  Emperor  and  King  moves  in  imperial  and 
royal  state,  the  head  of  the  Republic  conducts  himself  like  the  simplest 
citizen.  All  have  access  to  him ;  he  is  not  surrounded  with  a  cordon  of 
military  guards ;  he  is  merely  one  of  the  people,  and  he  mingles  with  the 
people. 

Therefore,  it  is  not  a  heroic  act  to  kill  a  man  who,  unarmed  and  un- 

.  mindful  of  danger,  invites  the  attacks  of  the  vicious  and  insensate.  There 

is  really  no  reason  whatever  why  the  wicked,  lawless  devil-minded  could 

not  kill  off  Presidents  of  the  United  States  as  fast  as  they  were  elected, 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  375 

unless  laws  were  passed  for  the  suppression,  or,  at  least,  control,  of  the 
elements  which  breed  anarchists  and  other  vipers  of  that  stripe  and 
character. 

President  Lincoln  did  not  take  even  the  most  ordinary  precautions 
to  ensure  his  personal  safety.  All  during  the  years  he  occupied  the  White 
House  he  was  constantly  eluding  the  guards  detailed  to  watch  over  him. 
It  irritated  him  beyond  measure  to  think  that  he  was  being  protected,  al- 
though he  realized  that  his  life  was  precious  to  his  country  and  the  cause 
of  the  Union. 

LAMON'S  PREMONITION. 

Ward  Lamon,  Marshal  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  the  self- 
constituted  bodyguard  of  the  President,  was  the  man  who  prevented  the 
murder  of  Lincoln  more  than  once.  Being  one  of  the  latter's  closest  and 
most  intimate  friends,  he  had  access  to  the  White  House  day  and  night — 
in  fact,  he  lived  there.  He  was  at  once  time  the  President's  law  partner, 
and  possessed  his  confidence  in  a  greater  degree  than  any  other  man  in 
the  United  States.  A  day  or  two  previous  to  the  assassination  Lamon 
went  to  Richmond,  and  before  his  departure  implored  the  President  not 
to  expose  himself. 

"Whatever  you  do,  Mr.  President,"  said  he,  "do  not,  by  any  means, 
go  to  the  theater.  You  are  more  liable  to  attack  there  than  any  other 
place." 

"Lamon  is  a  regular  old  woman,"  laughed  the  President,  "and  takes 
as  much  care  of  me  as  though  I  were  a  baby." 

However,  Mr.  Lincoln  gave  a  sort  of  a  promise  that  he  would  stay 
away  from  the  theater,  and  Lamon  departed  for  Richmond  somewhat 
easy  in  his  mind.  He  had  hardly  more  than  reached  the  fallen  capital  of 
the  Confederacy  when  he  received  a  telegram  conveying  the  intelligence 
that  President  Lincoln  had  been  shot  by  Booth  in  Ford's  Theater,  in 
Fourteenth  Street. 

"Had  I  been  in  Washington  such  a  thing  would  never  have  hap- 
pened," said  the  Marshal  afterwards. 

The  circumstances  surrounding  the  shooting  of  President  Lincoln 
indicated  that  there  was  carelessness  somewhere.  In  opposition  to  the 
wishes  of  Marshal  Lamon  the  President  went  to  the  theater,  at  the  in- 
stance of  Mrs.  Lincoln,  who  was  exceedingly  anxious  to  witness  the  play, 
"Our  American  Cousin."  The  wife  of  the  President,  although  desirous  of 
shielding  her  husband  from  all  possibility  of  harm,  did  not  for  a  moment 
think  Mr.  Lincoln  was  running  any  risk.  Guards  had  been  posted  near 
the  Presidential  box,  and  the  ushers,  also,  had  orders  not  to  permit  the 


376  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

approach  of  any  persons  whose  actions  might  be  construed  as  suspicious 
in  any  way. 

The  fact  that  Booth  was  an  actor  and  had  often  played  at  the  theater 
himself,  and  was  well  known  to  all  the  attaches  of  the  house,  made  it 
easy  for  him  to  saunter  to  the  vicinity  of  where  the  President  was  sitting 
with  his  wife,  Major  Rathbone,  Miss  Harris,  and  others.  The  ushers 
permitted  Booth  to  pass,  although  they  would  have  stopped  anyone  else, 
in  all  probability,  and  he  found  his  way  to  the  box  without  molestation 
or  hindrance  of  any  kind. 

The  guards  near  the  box,  seeing  the  ushers  had  no  objection  to  the 
presence  of  the  assass-in,  paid  no  attention  to  him.  Having  everything 
his  own  way,  Booth  prepared  himself  for  the  frightful  deed ;  he  drew  his 
revolver,  and  with  this  weapon  in  his  right  hand,  he  entered  the  box. 

PRESIDENT  LINCOLN  ASSASSINATED. 

President  Lincoln  was  sitting  in  the  front  part  of  the^cx,  his  arm 
resting  on  the  rail,  intent  upon  what  was  transpiring  on  the  stage,  while 
those  around  him  were  also  interested  in  the  play,  and  did  hot  notice  the 
entrance  of  the  assassin.  Placing  his  revolver  at  the  back  of  the  Presi- 
dent's head,  Booth  fired,  the  bullet  entering  the  brain  and  causing  instan- 
taneous insensibility. 

The  President  did  not  move,  but,  closing  his  eyes  as  soon  as  the  shot 
was  fired,  appeared  as  if  asleep. 

Major  Rathbone  was  the  first  one  of  those  near  the  President  to  gain 
his  presence  of  mind,  and,  leaping  forward,  grasped  Booth  by  the  arm 
The  latter,  who  had  dropped  his  revolver,  had  drawn  a  dagger,  and, 
wrenching  his  arm  free,  stabbed  Rathbone  in  the  hand.  At  the  same 
time  Mrs.  Lincoln,  who  was  stunned  by  the  awful  suddenness  of  the  oc- 
currence, gave  vent  to  a  piercing  shriek.  She  rushed  to  the  President's 
side,  but  could  not  arouse  him  from  his  deadly  lethargy. 

At  first  the  audience,  though  startled  by  the  shot  and  Mrs.  Lincoln's 
screaming,  did  not  understand  what  had  happened,  and  thought  it  part 
of  the  performance ;  but  they  were  quickly  undeceived  by  the  assassin, 
who  now  rushed  to  the  front  of  the  box,  and  leaped  on  to  the  stage,  ex- 
claiming: "Sic  semper  tyrannis!"  (So  be  it  always  with  tyrants!),  fol- 
lowing this  by  brandishing  the  dagger,  and  adding :  "The  .  South  is 
avenged!"  Then  he  dashed  through  the  doors  of  the  building,  and 
escaped. 

No  words  can  describe  the  scenes  that  ensued;  for  it  was  quickly 
made  known  that  not  only  was  the  President  unconscious  from  the  mo- 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  377 

ment  he  was  struck  down,  but  that  there  was  no  hope  whatever  of  his 
recovery. 

To  add  to  the  thrilling  excitement  of  the  people,  the  audience  who 
left  the  building,  filled  with  grief  and  horror,  had  no  sooner  arrived  in  the 
street,  than  news  was  told  them  that  Mr.  Seward,  the  Secretary  of  State, 
had  also  been  assaulted.  While  lying  helpless,  owing  to  a  serious  injury 
he  had  received  through  being  thrown  from  his  carriage,  one  of  the  con- 
spirators— Payne  Powell — had  entered  his  room  and  stabbed  him  three 
times. 

The  gladness  which  had  just  come  upon  the  people  because  of  the 
surrender  of  General  Lee  and  the  collapse  of  the  Confederacy  was  now 
instantaneously  turned  into  sorrow ;  and  the  night  of  the  I4th  of  April, 
1865,  was  a  night  of  bitterness  and  gloom  in  the  city  of  Washington.  The 
many  rumors  which  were  afloat  before  midnight — as  to  a  plot  to  destroy 
the  whole  Cabinet,  a  fresh  outbreak  of  the  rebellion,  and  many  others — 
all  tended  to  intensify  the  general  anxiety;  and  though  these  reports 
proved  to  be  without  foundation,  yet  the  next  day  brought  with  it  greater 
anguish  still.  On  that  morning,  at  twenty-two  minutes  past  seven,  the 
President  passed  away. 

The  plan  for  the  assassination  of  Mr.  Lincoln  had  been  laid  with 
great  care.  Outside  of  the  theater,  where  the  deed  was  committed,  a 
horse  was  in  waiting  for  the  murderer;  and  though  on  jumping  from 
the  box  to  the  stage  he  had  injured  his  leg,  Booth  contrived  to  jump  into 
the  saddle,  and  was  soon  out  of  sight.  Away  towards  the  South  he  fled, 
soldiers  following  in  hot  pursuit;  but  not  until  he  had  reached  Lower 
Maryland,  where,  for  a  few  days,  he  found  shelter  amongst  friends,  was 
he  discovered.  There,  in  a  barn,  Booth  was  found  hidden,  and,  on  refusing 
to  surrender  when  called  upon,  the  building  was  fired,  and  he  was  shot 
dead  by  Boston  Corbett,  one  of  the  soldiers. 

Some  of  his  fellow  conspirators  were  soon  afterwards  arrested — four 
being  subsequently  hanged ;  and  it  was  ere  long  made  quite  clear  that  a 
plot  had  been  formed  to  take  the  lives  of  other  members  of  the  Cabinet 
as  well  as  that  of  Mr.  Lincoln. 

From  a  letter  found  in  Booth's  trunk,  not  only  was  this  proved,  but 
it  was  shown,  too,  that  the  murder  had  been  planned  to  take  place  just 
before  the  time  when  General  Lee  was  defeated,  and  had  only  failed  then 
because  Booth's  accomplices  refused  to  move  further  in  the  matter  "until 
Richmond" — the  seat  of  the  Confederate  Government — "could  be  heard 
from." 

The  land  was  now  filled  with  woe  and  lamentation ;  and  never,  before 


.378  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

or  since,  were  such  scenes  witnessed  in  it.  All  was  gloom  and  mourning. 
Men  walked  in  the  public  places  and  wept  aloud  as  if  they  had  been  alone ; 
women  sat  with  children  on  the  steps  of  houses,  wailing  and  sobbing. 
Strangers  stopped  to  converse  and  cry.  By  common  sympathy  all  began 
to  dress  their  houses  in  mourning  and  to  hang  black  stuff  in  all  the  public 
places.  Before  night  the  whole  nation  was  shrouded  in  black. 

Lincoln's  funeral  pageant  was  one  of  the  grandest,  and  at  the  same 
time  the  most  touching  display  the  world  has  ever  seen.  After  the  body 
had  lain  in  state  under  the  great  dome  of  the  Capitol,  it  was  carried 
through  the  great  cities  of  the  North,  where  the  people  gathered  by 
hundreds  of  thousands  to  greet  it. 

After  the  sad  journey  through  the  country,  the  remains  of  the  first 
Martyr  President,  the  great  Emancipator,  were  finally  laid  to  rest  in  the 
cemetery  at  Springfield,  Ills.,  where  a  magnificent  monument  has  been 
erected  to  the  memory  of  one  of  the  greatest,  kindliest,  most  magnani- 
mous men  to  whom  the  Republic  has  given  birth. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

THE  STORY  OF  LINCOLN'S  LIFE  AS  WRITTEN  BY  HIMSELF — "THE  SHORT 
AND  SIMPLE  ANNALS  OF  THE  POOR" — EARLY  STRUGGLES  AND  DIS- 
APPOINTMENTS— His  ACHIEVEMENTS  AND  TRIUMPHS — How  HE  OVER- 
CAME ALL  OBSTACLES  AND  BECAME  THE  MOST  EMINENT  AMONG 
THE  RULERS  OF  THE  EARTH. 


In  one  single  line  Abraham  Lincoln  epitomized  his  entire  life — "The 
short  and  simple  annals  of  the  poor."  These  eight  words  constitute  a 
history,  an  autobiography,  in  themselves. 

On  the  20th  of  December,  1859,  Mr.  Lincoln,  who  was  then  preparing 
to  enter  the  race  for  the  Republican  Presidential  nomination,  wrote  the 
following  letter  to  a  friend  at  Bloomington,  Mr.  Jesse  W.  Fell : 

"I  was  born  February  12,  1809,  in  Hardin  County,  Kentucky.  My 
parents  were  both  born  in  Virginia,  of  undistinguished  families — second 
families,  perhaps  I  should  say.  My  mother,  who  died  in  my  tenth  year, 
was  of  a  family  of  the  name  of  Hanks,  some  of  whom  now  reside  in  Adams 
and  others  in  Macon  County,  Illinois.  My  paternal  grandfather,  Abra- 
ham Lincoln,  emigrated  from  Rockingham  County,  Virginia,  to  Ken- 
tucky, about  1781  or  1782,  where,  a  year  or  two  later,  he  was  killed  by 
Indians,  not  in  battle,  but  by  stealth,  when  he  was  laboring  to  open  a 
farm  in  the  forest. 

"His  ancestors,  who  were  Quakers,  went  to  Virginia  from  Beiks 
County,  Pennsylvania.  An  effort  to  identify  them  with  the  New  England 
family  of  the  same  name  ended  in  nothing  more  than  a  similarity  of 
Christian  names  in  both  families,  such  as  Enoch,  Levi,  Mordecai,  Solo- 
mon, Abraham,  and  the  like. 

"My  father,  at  the  death  of  his  father,  was  but  six  years  of  age,  and 
he  grew  up  literally  without  education.  He  removed  from  Kentucky  to 
what  is  now  Spencer  County,  Indiana,  in  my  eighth  year.  We  reached 
our  new  home  about  the  time  the  State  came  into  the  Union  (1816).  It 
was  a  wild  region,  with  many  bears  and  other  wild  animals  still  in  the 
woods. 

"There  I  grew  up.    There  were  some  schools,  so-called,  but  no  quali- 

379 


380  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

fication  was  ever  required  of  a  teacher  beyond  'readin',  writin',  and  ci- 
pherin' '  to  the  Rule  of  Three.  If  a  straggler,  supposed  to  understand 
Latin,  happened  to  sojourn  in  the  neighborhood,  he  was  looked  upon  as 
a  wizard.  There  was  absolutely  nothing  to  excite  ambition  for  educa- 
tion. 

"Of  course,  when  I  came  of  age,  I  did  not  know  much.  Still,  some- 
how, I  could  read,  write,  and  cipher  to  the  Rule  of  Three,  but  that  was 
all.  I  have  not  been  to  school  since.  The  little  advance  I  now  have  upon 
this  store  of  education  I  have  picked  up  from  time  to  time  under  the 
pressure  of  necessity. 

"I  was  raised  to  farm-work,  which  I  continued  until  I  was  twenty- 
two.  At  twenty-one  I  came  to  Illinois  and  passed  the  first  year  in  Macon 
County.  Then  I  got  to  New  Salem,  at  that  time  in  Sangamon,  now  in 
Menard  County,  where  I  remained  a  year  as  a  sort  of  clerk  in  a  store. 

"Then  came  the  Black  Hawk  War,  and  I  was  elected  a  captain  of 
volunteers — a  success  which  gave  me  more  pleasure  than  any  I  have  had 
since.  I  v/ent  through  the  campaign,  was  elated,  ran  for  the  Legislature 
in  the  same  year  (1832),  and  was  beaten — the  only  time  I  have  ever  been 
beaten  by  the  people. 

"The  next,  and  three  succeeding  biennial  elections,  I  was  elected  to 
the  Legislature.  I  was  not  a  candidate  afterwards.  During  this  legis- 
lative period,  I  had  studied  law  and  removed  to  Springfield  to  practice  it. 
In  1846  I  was  once  elected  to  the  lower  House  of  Congress,  but  was  not 
a  candidate  for  re-election.  From  1849  to  1854,  both  inclusive,  practiced 
law  more  assiduously  than  ever  before. 

"Always  a  Whig  in  politics,  and  generally  on  the  Whig  electoral 
ticket  making  active  canvasses.  I  was  losing  interest  in  politics  when 
the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  aroused  me  again.  What  I 
have  done  since  then  is  pretty  well  known. 

"If  any  personal  description  of  me  is  thought  desirable,  it  may  be 
said  I  am,  in  height,  six  feet  four  inches,  nearly ;  lean  in  flesh,  weighing, 
on  an  average,  one  hundred  and  eighty  pounds ;  dark  complexion,  with 
coarse  black  hair,  and  graj  eyes.  No  other  marks  or  brands  recollected. 

"Yours  truly, 

"A.   LINCOLN." 

Soon  after  his  nomination  for  the  Presidency  in  1860,  Mr.  Lincoln 
wrote  out  a  somewhat  more  elaborate  sketch  of  his  life  for  the  use  of  his 
friends  in  preparing  a  campaign  biography  for  the  canvass  of  that  year, 
but  it  contained  little  or  nothing  in  reference  to  his  early  life  not  given 
above. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  381 

LINCOLN'S  ANCESTRY. 

It  has  been  claimed  by  some  that  Abraharr  Lincoln  came  of  a  fine 
line  of  ancestors,  but  Lincoln  himself  never  paid  much  attention  to  these 
assertions.  As  Napoleon  said  of  his  brave  Marshal  of  the  Empire,  Le- 
febvre,  "He  is  his  own  ancestor." 

The  first  of  this  family  of  Lincolns  came  to  this  country  from  En- 
gland about  1637,  settling  first  at  Salem  and  afterwards  at  Hingham, 
Mass.,  was  the  American  progenitor.  To  the  same  source  has  been  traced 
the  ancestry  of  General  Benjamin  Lincoln,  of  Revolutionary  fame,  who 
received  the  sword  of  Lord  Cornwallis  at  Yorktown  in  1781 ;  two  early 
Governors  of  Massachusetts  (both  named  Levi  Lincoln);  Governor 
Enoch  Lincoln  of  Maine,  besides  others  of  national  reputation.  Mordecai 
Lincoln,  the  son  of  Samuel,  lived  and  died  in  Scituate,  near  Hingham, 
Mass. ;  Mordecai  II.,  his  son,  emigrated  first  to  New  Jersey  and  then  to 
what  afterwards  became  Berks  County,  Pennsylvania,  as  early  as  1720 
to  1725.  John,  his  son,  removed  to  Rockingham  County,  Virginia,  in 
1758 ;  his  son  Abraham,  the  father  of  Thomas  (who  was  the  father  of  the 
Martyr  President,  settled  in  Kentucky  about  1781  or  1782,  where  he  was 
killed  by  Indians  in  1784,  leaving  Thomas,  the  father  of  the  future  Presi- 
dent, a  child  of  the  age  of  six  years. 

Abraham  Lincoln,  the  son  of  Thomas  Lincoln  and  Nancy  Hanks, 
was  born  the  I2th  of  February,  1809,  in  the  men  Hardin  County,  Ken- 
tucky. Abraham's  parents  were  married  near  Beachland,  in  Washing- 
ton County,  the  same  State,  on  June  I2th,  1806,  Miss  Hanks  being  the 
niece  of  Joseph  Hanks  of  Elizabethtown.  Aftei;  the  birth  of  a  daughter 
he  removed  to  a  farm  about  fourteen  miles  from  Elizabethtown,  where 
Abraham  was  born,  "at  a  point  within  the  new  County  of  La  Rue,  a  mile 
or  a  mile  and  a  half  from  where  Hodgens*  mill  now  is." 

This  is  according  to  the  memorandum  furnished  by  President  Lin- 
coln to  an  artist  who  was  painting  his  portrait. 

LINCOLN'S  EARLY  YOUTH. 

When  Abraham  was  in  his  eighth  year  his*  father  removed  with  his 
family  to  what  is  now  Spencer  County,  Indiana.  Here  there  is  reason 
to  believe  their  mode  of  life  was  even  more  comfortless  than  it  was  in 
Kentucky,  as  the  country  was  newer  and  they  settled  in  an  unbroken 
forest.  Lincoln  himself  says,  in  the  paper  prepared  as  the  basis  for  a 
campaign  biography  in  1860,  that  "this  removal  was  partly  on  account  of 
slavery,  but  chiefly  on  account  of  the  difficulty  in  land-titles  in  Kentucky." 

For  a  time,  the  family  lived  in  a  sort  of  camp  or  cabin  built  of  logs 


382  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

on  three  sides  and  open  at  one  end,  which  served  as  both  door  and  win* 
dows.  A  story  told  by  Lincoln  himself  about  his  life  here  gives  his  first, 
if  not  his  only,  experience  as  a  hunter.  "A  few  days  before  the  comple- 
tion of  his  eighth  year,  in  the  absence  of  his  father,  a  flock  of  wild  turkeys 
approached  the  new  log-cabin,  and  Abraham,  with  a  rifle  gun,  standing 
inside,  shot  through  a  crack  and  killed  one  of  them.  He  has  never  since 
pulled  a  trigger  on  any  larger  game." 

Another  story  connected  with  his  life  in  Indiana  is  that  told  by  Aus- 
tin Gollaher,  a  school-  and  play-mate  of  Abraham's — though  somewhat 
older — who  claims  to  have  rescued  the  future  President  from  drowning 
in  consequence  of  his  falling  into  a  stream  which  they  were  crossing  on  a 
log,  while  hunting  partridges  near  Gollaher's  home.  The  same  claim  of 
having  saved  Lincoln's  life  has  been  set  up  by  Dennis  Hanks,  presum- 
ably referring  to  the  same  event.  In  his  own  sketches,  Mr.  Lincoln  makes 
no  reference  to  this  incident,  though  there  is  believed  to  have  been  some 
basis  of  truth  in  the  story,  as  told  so  graphically  and  circumstantially  by 
Gollaher. 

Here  Abraham  again  went  to  school  for  a  short  time,  but,  according 
to  his  own  statement,  "the  aggregate  of  all  his  schooling  did  not  amount 
to  one  year."  According  to  the  statement  of  his  friend  Gollaher,  he  "was 
an  unusually  bright  boy  at  school,  and  made  splendid  progress  in  his 
studies.  Indeed,  he  learned  faster  than  any  one  of  his  schoolmates. 
Though  so  young,  he  studied  very  hard.  He  would  get  spice-wood 
brushes,  hack  them  up  on  a  log,  and  burn  them  two  or  three  together,  for 
the  purpose  of  giving  light  by  which  he  might  pursue  his  studies." 

An  ax  was  early  put  into  his  hands,  and  he  soon  became  an  important 
factor  in  clearing  away  the  forest  about  the  Lincoln  home.  Two  years 
after  the  arrival  in  Indiana,  Abraham's  mother  died,  and  a  little  over  a 
year  later  his  father  married  Mrs.  Sarah  Johnston,  whom  he  had  known 
in  Kentucky.  Her  advent  brought  many  improvements  into  the  Lincoln 
home,  as  she  possessed  some  property  and  was  a  woman  of  strong  char- 
acter. Between  her  and  her  step-son  sprang  up  a  warm  friendship  which 
lasted  through  life.  His  devotion  to  her  illustrated  one  of  the  strong 
points  in  Mr.  Lincoln's  character. 

In  1826,  at  the  age  of  seventeen  years,  Lincoln  spent  several  months 
as  a  ferryman  at  the  mouth  of  Anderson  Creek,  where  it  enters  the  Ohio. 
According  to  a  story  told  by  him  to  Secretary  of  State  Seward,  after  he 
became  President,  it  was  here  he  earned  his  first  dollar  by  taking  two 
travelers,  with  their  baggage,  to  a  passing  steamer  in  the  Ohio.  It  was 
here,  too,  probably,  that  he  acquired  that  taste  for  river  life  which  led,  at 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  383 

the  age  of  nineteen,  to  his  taking  his  first  trip  to  New  Orleans  as  a  hired 
hand  on  board  a  flatboat  loaded  with  produce,  belonging  to  a  Mr.  Gentry, 
a  business  man  of  Gentryville,  Ind.,  for  which  he  received  eight  dollars 
per  month  and  his  passage  home  again. 

An  almost  tragic  incident  connected  with  this  trip,  told  by  Mr.  Lin- 
coln himself,  was  an  attack  made  upon  the  boat  and  its  crew  by  seven 
negroes  for  the  purpose  of  robbery,  and  possibly  murder,  one  night  while 
the  boat  was  tied  to  the  shore  along  "the  coast"  on  the  lower  Mississippi. 
The  intended  robbers  were  beaten  off,  but  not  until  some  of  the  crew  had 
been  wounded  in  the  assault.  Te  negroes  were  themselves  pretty  badly 
used  up. 

In  March,  1830,  Abraham  removed  with  his  father's  family  to  Illi- 
nois. This  removal  was  brought  about  largely  through  the  influence  of 
John  Hanks,  who  had  married  one  of  Abraham's  step-sisters,  and  had 
preceded  the  family  to  Illinois  by  two  years.  The  first  location  was  made 
on  the  banks  of  the  Sangamon  River,  near  the  present  village  of  Harris- 
town,  in  the  western  part  of  Macon  County. 

Here  he  set  to  work  assisting  his  father  to  build  their  first  home  and 
open  a  farm,  splitting  some  of  the  rails  which  aroused  so  much  enthusiasm 
when  exhibited  after  his  nomination  for  the  Presidency  in  1860.  A  year 
later,  in  conjunction  with  John  Hanks  and  one  or  two  others,  he  built  a 
flatboat,  on  the  Sangamon  River  near  Springfield,  for  Daniel  Offutt,  on 
which  he  went  to  New  Orleans  with  a  load  of  produce. 

During  a  stay  of  one  month  in  the  "Crescent  City,"  he  had  his  first 
opportunity  of  seeing  the  horrible  side  of  the  institution  of  slavery,  and 
there  is  reason  to  believe  that  he  then  became  imbued  with  those  senti- 
ments which  bore  such  vast  results  for  the  country  and  a  race  a  genera- 
tion later.  According  to  the  testimony  of  his  friend  Herndon,  "he  saw 
'negroes  in  chains — whipped  and  scourged/  " 

LINCOLN'S  FIRST  SIGHT  OF  SLAVERY. 

One  morning,  in  their  rambles  over  the  city,  they  passed  a  slave 
auction.  A  vigorous  and  comely  mulatto  girl  was  being  sold.  She  un- 
derwent a  thorough  examination  at  the  hands  of  the  bidders;  they 
pinched  her  flesh  and  made  her  trot  up  and  down  the  room  like  a  horse 
to  show  how  she  moved,  as  the  auctioneer  said,  that  "bidders  might  sat- 
isfy themselves"  whether  the  article  they  were  offering  to  buy  was  sound 
or  not.  The  whole  thing  was  so  revolting  that  Lincoln  moved  away 
from  the  scene  with  a  deep  feeling  of  unconquerable  hate.  Bidding  his 
companions  follow  him,  he  said :  "If  ever  I  get  a  chance  to  hit  that  tiling 


384  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

(meaning  slavery),  I'll  hit  it  hard."  Judge  Herndon,  Lincoln's  law  part- 
ner and  biographer,  said  this  incident  was  not  only  furnished  to  him  by 
John  Hanks,  but  that  he  heard  Mr.  Lincoln  refer  to  it  himself. 

After  his  return  from  New  Orleans,  he  entered  the  service  of  Offutt 
as  clerk  in  a  store  at  New  Salem,  then  in  Sangamon  County,  but  now  in 
the  County  of  Menard,  a  few  miles  from  Petersburg.  While  thus  em- 
ployed, he  began  in  earnest  the  work  of  trying  to  educate  himself,  using 
a  borrowed  "Kirkham's  Grammar"  and  other  books,  under  the  guidance 
of  Mentor  Graham,  the  village  school-teacher. 

Later,  with  Graham's  assistance,  he  studied  surveying  in  order  to 
fit  himself  for  the  position  of  a  deputy  to  the  County  Surveyor.  How  well 
he  applied  himself  to  the  study  of  the  English  language  is  evidenced  by 
the  clearness  and  accuracy  with  which  he  was  accustomed  to  express 
himself,  in  after  years,  on  great  national  and  international  questions — as 
he  had  no  opportunity  of  study  in  the  schools  after  coming  to  Illinois. 

The  year  after  locating  at  New  Salem  (1832)  came  the  Black  Hawk 
War,  when  he  enlisted  and  was  elected  Captain  of  his  company — a  result 
of  which,  previous  to  his  election  to  the  Presidency,  he  said,  he  had  not 
since  had  any  success  in  life  which  gave  him  so  much  satisfaction.  His 
company  having  been  disbanded,  he  again  enlisted  as  a  private  under 
Captain  Elijah  lies.  He  remained  in  the  service  three  months,  but  par- 
ticipated in  no  battle.  This,  he  often  said,  was  no  fault  of  his. 

After  returning  from  the  Black  Hawk  War,  Lincoln  made  his  first 
entry  into  business  for  himself  as  the  partner  of  one  Berry  in  the  pur- 
chase of  a  stock  of  goods,  to  which  they  added  two  others  by  buying  out 
local  dealers  on  credit.  To  this,  for  a  time,  he  added  the  office  of  Post- 
master. In  less  than  a  year,  they  sold  out  their  store  on  credit  to  other 
parties,  who  failed  and  absconded,  leaving  a  burden  of  debt  on  Lincoln's 
shoulders  which  was  not  lifted  until  his  retirement  from  Congress  in  1849. 

LINCOLN  ENTERS  THE  FIELD  OF  POLITICS. 

The  year  1832  saw  Lincoln's  entrance. into  politics  as  a  candidate 
for  Representative  in  the  General  Assembly  of  Illinois  from  Sangamon 
County,  in  opposition  to  Colonel  E.  D.  Taylor,  who  afterwards  became 
Receiver  of  Public  Moneys  at  Chicago  by  appointment  of  President  Jack- 
son. Taylor  was  elected,  Lincoln  then  sustaining  the  only  defeat  of  his 
life  as  a  candidate  for  office  directly  at  the  hands  of  the  people. 

Lincoln  was  then  in  his  twenty-fourth  year,  uncouth  in  dress  and  un- 
polished in  manners,  but  with  a  basis  of  sound  sense  and  sterling  hon- 
esty which  commanded  the  respect  and  confidence  of  all  who  knew  him. 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  3% 

He  also  had  a  fund  of  humor  and  drollery,  which,  in  spite  of  a  melan- 
choly temperament,  found  expression  in  sallies  of  wit  and  the  relation 
of  amusing  stories,  and  led  him  to  enter  with  spirit  into  any  sort  of  amuse- 
ment or  practical  jokes,  so  customary  at  that  time ;  yet  those  who  knew 
him  best  say  that  he  "never  drank  intoxicating  liquors,"  nor  "even,  in 
those  days,  did  he  smoke  or  chew  tobacco." 

After  his  disastrous  experience  as  a  merchant  at  New  Salem,  and  a 
period  of  service  as  Deputy  County  Surveyor,  in  1834  he  again  became 
a  candidate  for  the  Legislature  and  was  elected.  During  the  succeeding 
session  at  Vandalia,  he  was  thrown  much  into  the  company  of  his  col- 
league, Major  John  T.  Stuart,  whose  acquaintance  he  had  made  during 
the  Black  Hawk  War,  and  through  whose  advice,  and  the  offer  of  books, 
he  was  induced  to  enter  upon  the  study  of  law.  Again,  in  1836,  he  was 
re-elected  to  the  Legislature.  His  growing  popularity  was  indicated  by 
the  fact  that,  at  this  election,  he  received  the  highest  vote  cast  for  any 
candidate  on  the  legislative  ticket  from  Sangamon  County. 

In  the  Legislature  chosen  at  this  time,  Sangamon  County  was  rep- 
resented by  the  famous  "Long  Nine" — two  being  members  of  the  Senate 
and  seven  of  the  House — of  whom  Lincoln  was  the  tallest.  This  Legisla- 
ture was  the  one  which  passed  the  act  removing  the  State  capital  from 
Vandalia  to  Springfield,  and  set  on  foot  the  ill-fated  "internal  improve- 
ment scheme,"  in  both  of  which  Lincoln  bore  a  prominent  part.  It  was 
also  conspicuous  for  the  large  number  of  its  members  who  afterwards 
became  distinguished  in  State  or  National  history. 

On  his  return  from  the  Legislature  of  1836-37,  he  entered  upon  the 
practice  of  law,  for  which  he  had  been  preparing,  as  the  necessity  of  mak- 
ing a  livelihood  would  permit,  for  the  past  two  years,  entering  into  part- 
nership with  his  preceptor  and  legislative  colleague,  John  T.  Stuart.  The 
story  of  his  removal,  as  told  by  his  friend,  Joshua  F.  Speed : 

"He  had  ridden  into  town  on  a  borrowed  horse,  and  engaged  from 
the  only  cabinet-maker  in  the  village  a  single  bedstead.  He  came  into 
my  store,  set  his  saddle-bags  on  the  counter,  and  inquired  what  the  fur- 
niture for  a  single  bedstead  would  cost.  I  took  slate  and  pencil,  made  a 
calculation,  and  found  the  sum  for  furniture,  complete,  would  amount  to 
seventeen  dollars  in  all.  Said  he:  'It  is  probably  cheap  enough;  but  I 
want  to  say  that,  cheap  as  it  is,  I  have  not  the  money  to  pay.  But  if  you 
will  credit  me  until  Christmas,  and  my  experiment  as  a  lawyer  here  is  a 
success,  I  will  pay  you  then.  If  I  fail  in  that,  I  will  probably  never  pay 
you  at  all.'  The  tone  of  his  voice  was  so  melancholy  that  I  felt  for  him. 
I  looked  at  him,  and  I  thought  then,  as  I  think  now,  that  I  never  saw  so 


386  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

gloomy  and  melancholy  a  face  in  my  life.  I  said  to  him,  'So  small  a  debt 
seems  to  affect  you  so  deeply,  I  think  I  can  suggest  a  plan  by  which  you 
will  be  able  to  attain  your  end  without  any  debt.  I  have  a  very  large 
room,  and  a  very  large  double  bed  in  it,  which  you  are  perfectly  welcome 
to  share  with  me  if  you  choose.'  'Where  is  your  room  ?'  he  asked.  'Up- 
stairs,' said  I,  pointing  to  the  stairs  leading  from  the  store  to  my  room. 
Without  saying  a  word  he  took  his  saddle-bags  on  his  arm,  went  upstairs, 
set  them  down  on  the  floor,  came  down  again,  and,  with  a  face  beaming 
with  pleasure  and  smiles,  exclaimed,  'Well,  Speed,  I'm  moved.' " 

The  friendship  between  Lincoln  and  Speed,  which  began  in,  and  was 
cemented  by,  this  generous  act  of  the  latter,  was  of  the  most  devoted 
character,  and  was  continued  through  life.  During  the  Civil  War  he  was 
intrusted  by  President  Lincoln  with  many  delicate  and  important  du- 
ties in  the  interest  of  the  Government.  His  brother,  James  Speed,  was 
appointed  by  Mr.  Lincoln  Attorney  General  in  1864,  but  resigned  after 
the  accession  of  President  Johnson. 

After  1840  Lincoln  declined  a  re-election  to  the  Legislature.  His 
prominence  as  a  political  leader  was  indicated  by  the  appearance  of  his 
name  on  the  Whig  electoral  ticket  of  that  year,  again  in  1844  and  in 
1852,  and  on  the  Republican  ticket  for  the  State  at  large  in  1856.  Ex- 
cept while  in  the  Legislature,  he  gave  his  attention  to  the  practice  of  his 
profession,  first  as  the  partner  of  Major  Stuart,  then  of  Judge  Stephen  T. 
Logan,  and  finally  of  William  H.  Herndon,  the  latter  partnership  con- 
tinuing until  his  election  to  the  Presidency. 

In  an  address  before  the  Young  Men's  Lyceum  at  Springfield,  in 
January,  1837,  on  "The  Perpetuation  of  our  Political  Institutions,"  Lin- 
coln gave  out  what  may  be  construed  as  one  of  his  earliest  public  utter- 
ances on  the  subject  of  slavery.  His  theme  was  suggested  by  numerous 
lynchings  and  mob  outrages  in  a  number  of  the  Southern  States,  and 
by  the  burning  of  a  negro  in  St.  Louis  charged  with  the  commission  of 
a  murder.  The  argument,  as  a  whole,  was  a  warning  against  the  danger 
of  mob  law  to  the  principles  of  civil  liberty  enunciated  in  the  Declaration 
of  Independence,  and  a  cautious  plea  for  the  right  of  free  speech.  In  it 
he  said: 

"There  is  no  grievance  that  is  a  fit  object  of  redress  by  mob  law.  In 
any  case  that  may  arise,  as,  for  instance,  the  promulgation  of  abolitionism, 
one  of  two  positions  is  necessarily  true — that  the  thing  is  right  within 
itself,  and  therefore  deserves  protection  of  all  law  and  all  good  citizens ; 
or  it  is  wrong,  and,  therefore,  proper  to  be  prohibited  by  legal  enact- 


Lincoln,  svs  President.  Signing  McKinley's  Brevet  as  Ma^or 


President  Lincoln  a.nd  His  Son  "Tad" 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  387 

ments ;  and  in  neither  case  is  the  interposition  of  mob  law  either  neces- 
sary, justifiable,  or  excusable." 

LINCOLN'S  MARRIAGE. 

On  November  4th,  1842,  Lincoln  was  married  to  Miss  Mary  Todd. 
In  1846  he  was  elected  as  Representative  in  Congress  for  the  Springfield 
District.  He  made  several  speeches  during  his  term,  the  most  notewor- 
thy being  one  in  which  he  took  ground  in  opposition  to  the  position  of 
the  administration  in  reference  to  the  Mexican  War — on  that  subject 
agreeing  with  the  famous  Tom  Corwin. 

His  attitude  on  the  slavery  question  is  indicated  by  his  statement 
that  he  voted  in  favor  of  the  Wilmot  Proviso  forty-two  times,  and  sup- 
ported a  bill  for  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  with 
the  consent  of  the  voters  of  the  District  and  with  compensation  to  the 
owners. 

This  was  his  uniform  position  with  reference  to  slavery  up  to  the 
time  when  the  slaveholders  forfeited  their  right  to  be  protected  by  en- 
gaging in  rebellion,  and  when  its  abolition  became  a  "war  measure." 

During  the  five  years  following  his  retirement  from  Congress  in 
1849,  Lincoln  gave  his  time  to  the  practice  of  his  profession  more  indus- 
triously than  ever  before.  The  passage,  in  May,  1854,  of  the  so-called 
Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  repealing  the  Missouri  Compromise  and  opening 
the  way  for  the  admission  of  slavery  into  territory  which  had  been  "dedi- 
cated to  freedom,"  again  called  him  into  the  political  arena,  and  marked 
a  new  era  in  his  career,  and  he  almost  immediately  became  one  of  the 
leaders  of  the  opposition  to  that  measure.  During  October,  1854,  the 
State  Fair  being  in  progress,  Senator  Douglas  came  to  Springfield  to 
defend  his  action.  In  Lincoln  and  Lyman  Trumbull  he  found  his  ablest 
antagonists.  Two  weeks  later,  Lincoln  made,  at  Peoria,  probably  the 
most  exhaustive  argument  that  had,  so  far,  been  delivered  on  this  ques- 
tion. 

At  the  November  election  he  and  Judge  Stephen  T.  Logan  were 
elected  to  the  Legislature,  but  Lincoln,  recognizing  that  his  name  was  to 
come  before  the  Legislature  at  the  coming  session,  as  a  candidate  for 
the  United  States  Senate,  as  a  successor  to  General  Shields,  declined  to 
accept  his  certificate  of  election,  thereby  leaving  a  vacancy  to  be  filled  by 
a  special  election.  By  means  of  a  "still  hunt,"  a  Democrat  was  chosen  to 
fill  the  vacancy.  When  the  Legislature  met  on  Jan.  ist,  1855,  the  Anti- 
Nebraska  Whigs  and  Anti-Nebraska  Democrats  still  had  a  small  ma- 
jority. T.he  Senatorial  election  came  on  February  8th.  , 

Lincoln  became  the  caucus  nominee  of  the  Whigs,  Shields  of  the 


388  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

straight-out  Democrats,  while  Lyman  Trumbull  received  the  support  of 
the  Anti-Nebraska  Democrats. 

On  the  first  ballot  Lincoln  received  his  full  vote  of  forty-five  mem- 
bers. Trumbull  received  five,  which,  combined  with  the  Lincoln  vote, 
would  have  been  sufficient  to  elect — all  other  candidates  receiving  forty- 
nine  votes.  By  Lincoln's  advice,  his  friends  went  to  Trumbull,  and  he 
was  elected. 

On  May  2Qth  1856,  Lincoln  made  before  the  Bloomington  Conven- 
tion one  of  the  ablest  and  most  inspiring  speeches  of  his  life;  the  Re- 
publican party,  so  far  as  Illinois  was  concerned,  was  brought  into  ex- 
istence ;  the  program  proposed  by  him  at  Decatur,  for  the  nomination  of 
Bissell  for  Governor,  was  carried  into  effect  by  acclamation,  and  its  wis- 
dom demonstrated  by  the  election  of  the  entire  State  ticket  in  November 
following. 

In  the  first  National  Convention  of  the  Republican  party,  held  at 
Philadelphia  on  June  17,  he  was  a  leading  candidate  for  the  nomination 
for  the  Vice-Presidency  on  the  Fremont  ticket,  receiving  no  votes,  and 
coming  next  to  William  L.  Dayton,  who  was  nominated. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

LINCOLN'S  GREAT  "HousE  DIVIDED  AGAINST  ITSELF"  SPEECH,  WHICH 
FIRST  BROUGHT  HIM  INTO  NATIONAL  PROMINENCE — JOINT  DEBATE 
WITH  DOUGLAS— ELECTION  TO  THE  PRESIDENCY  OF  THE  UNITED 
STATES. 

Lincoln  gave  little  time  to  politics  until  1858,  devoting  his  attention 
chiefly  to  his  profession.  The  Republican  State  Convention  met  June 
1 6,  continuing  its  session  two  days.  On  the  I7th  a  resolution  was  unani- 
mously adopted  declaring  Abraham  Lincoln  its  "first  and  only  choice 
for  United  States  Senator,  to  fill  the  vacancy  about  to  be  created  by  the 
expiration  of  Mr.  Douglas'  term  of  office."  In  the  evening  Lincoln  de- 
livered an  address  in  response  to  this  resolution.  This  is  called  his  "Di- 
vided House"  speech,  and  its  effect  was  startling.  While  it  provoked 
the  bitter  criticism  of  his  opponents — who,  without  justification,  de- 
nounced it  as  a  plea  for  disunion — it  was  regarded  by  many  of  his  friends 
as  ill-advised.  Yet  its  far-reaching  sagacity  and  foresight,  which  now 
seem  to  have  been  prompted  by  a  species  of  inspired  prophecy,  were 
demonstrated  by  the  events  of  less  than  five  years  later,  in  which  he  was 
a  principal  factor. 

LINCOLN'S  "HousE  DIVIDED  AGAINST  ITSELF"  SPEECH. 
The  following  is  the  text  of  this  remarkable  oration : 
"Gentlemen  of  the  Convention:  If  we  could  first  know  where  we 
are,  and  whither  we  are  tending,  we  could  better  judge  what  to  do,  and 
how  to  do  it.  We  are  now  far  into  the  fifth  year  since  a  policy  was  ini- 
tiated with  the  avowed  object  and  confident  promise  of  putting  an  end 
to  slavery  agitation.  Under  the  operation  of  that  policy,  that  agitation 
has  not  ceased,  but  has  constantly  augmented.  In  my  opinion,  it  will 
not  cease  until  a  crisis  shall  have  been  reached  and  passed.  'A  house  di- 
vided against  itself  cannot  stand.'  I  believe  this  Government  cannot  en- 
dure permanently  half  slave  and  half  free.  I  do  not  expect  the  Union 
to  be  dissolved — I  do  not  expect  the  house  to  fall — but  I  do  expect  it  will 
cease  to  be  divided.  It  will  become  all  one  thing  or  all  the  other.  Either 
the  opponents  of  slavery  will  arrest  the  further  spread  of  it,  and  place  it 
where  the  public  mind  shall  rest  in  the  belief  that  it  is  in  the  course  of 
ultimate  extinction ;  or  its  advocates  will  push  it  forward,  till  it  shall  be- 

389 


39o  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

come  alike  lawful  in  all  the  States,  old  as  well  as  new — North  as  well  as  • 
South. 

"Have  we  no  tendency  to  the  latter  condition? 

"Let  any  one  who  doubts,  carefully  contemplate  that  now  almost 
complete  legal  combination — piece  of  machinery,  so  to  speak — com- 
pounded of  the  Nebraska  doctrine  and  the  Dred  Scott  decision.  Let  him 
consider  not  only  what  work  the  machinery  is  adapted  to,  and  how  well 
adapted ;  but  also  let  him  study  the  history  of  its  construction,  and  trace, 
if  he  can,  or  rather  fail,  if  he  can,  to  trace  the  evidence  of  design  and 
concert  of  action  among  its  chief  architects,  from  the  beginning. 

"The  year  of  1844  found  slavery  excluded  from  more  than  half  the 
States  by  State  Constitutions,  and  from  most  of  the  national  territory  by 
Congressional  prohibition.  Four  days  later  commenced  the  struggle 
which  ended  in  repealing  that  Congressional  prohibition.  This  opened 
all  the  national  territory  to  slavery,  and  was  the  first  point  gained. 

"But,  so  far,  Congress  had  acted ;  and  an  indorsement  by  the  people, 
real  or  apparent,  was  indispensable,  to  save  the  point  already  gained, 
and  give  chance  for  more. 

"This  necessity  had  not  been  overlooked,  but  had  been  provided 
for,  as  well  as  might  be,  in  the  notable  argument  of  'squatter  sovereignty,' 
otherwise  called  'sacred  right  of  self-government,'  which  latter  phrase, 
though  expressive  of  the  only  rightful  basis  of  any  government,  was  so 
perverted  in  this  attempted  use  of  it  as  to  amount  to  just  this : 

"That,  if  any  one  man  choose  to  enslave  another,  no  third  man  shall 
be  allowed  to  object.  That  argument  was  incorporated  into  the  Ne- 
braska bill  itself,  in  the  language  which  follows: 

"  'It  being  the  true  intent  and  meaning  of  this  act  not  to  legislate 
slavery  into  any  Territory  or  State,  nor  to  exclude  it  therefrom ;  but  to 
leave  the  people  thereof  perfectly  free  to  form  and  regulate  their  do- 
mestic institutions  in  their  own  way,  subject  only  to  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States/ 

"Then  opened  the  roar  of  loose  declamation  in  favor  of  'squatter 
sovereignty/  and  'sacred  right  of  self-government/  'But/  said  opposi- 
tion members,  'let  us  amend  the  bill  so  as  to  expressly  declare  that  the 
people  of  the  territory  may  exclude  slavery/  'Not  we/  said  the  friends 
of  the  measure ;  and  down  they  voted  the  amendment. 

"While  the  Nebraska  bill  was  passing  through  Congress,  a  law  case 
involving  the  question  of  a  negro's  freedom,  by  reason  of  his  owner 
having  voluntarily  taken  him  first  into  a  free  State  and  then  into  a  Terri- 
tory covered  by  the  Congressional  prohibition,  and  held  him  as  a  slave 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  391 

for  a  long  time  in  each,  was  passing  through  the  United  States  District 
Court  for  the  district  of  Missouri;  and  both  Nebraska  bill  and  lawsuit 
were  brought  to  a  decision  in  the  same  month  of  May,  1854.  The  negro's 
name  was  'Dred  Scott,'  which  name  now  designates  the  decision  finally 
made  in  the  case. 

"Before  the  then  next  Presidential  election,  the  case  came  to,  and 
was  argued  in,  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  but  the  decision 
of  it  was  deferred  until  after  the  election. 

"Still,  before  the  election,  Mr.  Trumbull,  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate, 
requested  the  leading  advocate  of  the  Nebraska  bill  to  state  his  opinion 
whether  the  people  of  a  Territory  can  constitutionally  exclude  slavery 
from  their  limits;  and  the  latter  answers:  'That  is  a  question  for  the 
Supreme  Court.' 

"The  election  came.  Mr.  Buchanan  was  elected,  and  the  endorse- 
ment, such  as  it  was,  secured.  That  was  the  second  point  gained.  The 
endorsement,  however,  fell  short  of  a  clear  popular  majority  by  nearly 
four  hundred  thousand  votes,  and  so,  perhaps,  was  not  overwhelmingly 
reliable  and  satisfactory.  The  outgoing  President,  in  the  last  annual 
message,  as  impressively  as  possible  echoed  back  upon  the  people  the 
weight  and  authority  of  the  endorsement.  The  Supreme  Court  met 
again ;  did  not  announce  their  decision,  but  ordered  a  re-argument.  The 
next  Presidential  inauguration  came,  and  still  no  decision  of  the  court ; 
but  the  incoming  President  in  his  inaugural  address  fervently  exhorted 
the  people  to  abide  by  the  forthcoming  decision,  whatever  it  might  be. 
Then,  in  a  few  days,  came  the  decision. 

"The  reputed  author  of  the  Nebraska  bill  finds  an  early  occasion  to 
make  a  speech  at  this  capital  indorsing  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  and 
vehemently  denouncing  all  opposition  to  it.  The  new  President,  too, 
seizes  the  early  occasion  of  the  Sillman  letter  to  indorse  and  strongly 
commend  that  decision,  and  to  express  his  astonishment  that  any  differ- 
ent view  had  ever  been  entertained. 

"At  length  a  squabble  sprang  up  between  the  President  and  the 
author  of  the  Nebraska  bill,  on  the  mere  question  of  fact  whether  the 
Lecompton  Constitution  was  or  was  not,  in  any  just  sense,  made  by  the 
people  of  Kansas;  and  in  that  quarrel  the  latter  declares  that  all  he 
wants  is  a  fair  vote  for  the  people,  and  that  he  cares  not  whether  slavery 
be  voted  down  or  up.  I  do  not  understand  his  declaration  that  he  cares  t 
not  whether  slavery  be  voted  down  or  up  to  be  intended  by  him  other 
than  an  apt  definition  of  the  policy  he  would  impress  upon  the  public 
mind — the  principle  for  which  he  declares  he  has  suffered  so  much,  and 


392  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

is  ready  to  suffer  to  the  end.  And  well  may  he  cling  to  that  principle.  If 
he  has  any  parental  feelings,  well  may  he  cling  to  it.  That  principle  is 
the  only  shred  left  of  his  original  Nebraska  doctrine. 

"Under  the  Dred  Scott  decision  squatter  sovereignty  squatted  out 
of  existence,  tumbled  down  like  temporary  scaffolding — like  the  mould 
at  the  foundry,  served  through  one  blast  and  fell  back  into  loose  sand — 
helped  to  carry  an  election  and  then  was  kicked  to  the  winds.  His  late 
joint  struggle  with  the  Republicans,  against  the  Lecompton  Constitution, 
involves  nothing  of  the  original  Nebraska  doctrine.  That  struggle  was 
made  on  a  point — the  right  of  the  people  to  make  their  own  constitution 
— upon  which  he  and  the  Republicans  have  never  differed. 

"The  several  points  of  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  in  connection  with 
Senator  Douglas'  care-not  policy,  constitute  the  piece  of  machinery,  in 
its  present  state  of  advancement.  This  was  the  third  point  gained. 

"The  working  points  of  that  machinery  are : 

"First.  That  no  negro  slave,  imported  as  such  from  Africa,  and  no 
descendant  of  such  slave,  can  ever  be  a  citizen  of  any  State,  in  the  sense 
of  that  term  as  used  in  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  This  point 
is  made  in  order  to  deprive  the  negro,  in  every  possible  event,  of  the 
benefit  of  that  provision  of  the  United  States  Constitution  which  declares 
that  'the  citizens  of  each  State  shall  be  entitled  to  all  the  privileges  and 
immunities  of  citizens  in  the  several  States.' 

"Secondly.  That,  'subject  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States/ 
neither  Congress  nor  a  Territorial  Legislature  can  exclude  slavery  from 
any  United  States  territory.  This  point  is  made  in  order  that  individual 
men  may  fill  up  the  Territories  with  slaves,  without  danger  of  losing 
them  as  property,  and  thus  to  enhance  the  chances  of  permanency  to  the 
institutions  through  all  the  future. 

"Thirdly.  That,  whether  the  holding  of  the  negro  in  actual  slavery 
in  a  free  State  make  him  free,  as  against  the  holder,  the  United  States 
courts  will  not  decide,  but  will  leave  to  be  decided  by  the  courts  of  any 
slave  State  the  negro  may  be  forced  into  by  the  master. 

"This  point  is  made,  not  to  be  pressed  immediately,  but,  if  acquiesced 
in  for  a  while,  and  apparently  indorsed  by  the  people  at  an  election,  then, 
to  sustain  "the  logical  conclusion  that  wrhat  Dred  Scott's  master  might 
lawfully  do  with  Dred  Scott,  in  the  free  State  of  Illinois,  every  other 
master  may  lawfully  do  with  any  other  one,  or  one  thousand  slaves,  in 
any  other  free  State. 

"Auxiliary  to  all  this,  and  working  hand  in  hand  with  it,  the  Nebraska 
doctrine,  or  what  is  left  of  it,  is  to  educate  and  mold  public  opinion,  at 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  393 

least  Northern  public  opinion,  not  to  care  whether  slavery  is  voted  down 
or  up.  This  shows  exactly  where  we  now  are;  and  partially,  also, 
whither  we  are  tending. 

"It  will  throw  additional  light  on  the  latter,  to  go  back  and  run  the 
mind  over  the  string  of  historical  facts  already  stated.  Several  things 
will  now  appear  less  dark  and  mysterious  than  they  did  when  they  were 
transpiring.  The  people  were  to  be  left  'perfectly  free,'  subject  only  to 
the  Constitution. 

"What  the  Constitution  had  to  do  with  it  outsiders  could  not  then 
see.  Plainly  enough,  now,  it  was  an  exactly  fitted  niche,  for  the  Dred 
Scott  decision  to  afterward  come  in,  and  declare  the  perfect  freedom  of 
the  people  to  be  just  no  freedom  at  all.  Why  was  the  amendment,  ex- 
pressly declaring  the  right  of  the  people,  voted  down?  Plain  enough 
now ;  the  adoption  of  it  would  have  spoiled  the  niche  for  the  Dred  Scott 
decision.  Why  was  the  court  decision  held  up  ?  Why  even  a  Senator's 
individual  opinion  withheld,  till  after  the  Presidential  election?  Plainly 
enough  now;  the  speaking  out  then  would  have  damaged  the  perfectly 
free  argument  upon  which  the  election  was  to  be  carried.  Why  the  out- 
going President's  felicitation  on  the  indorsement?  Why  the  delay  of  a 
re-argument?  Why  the  incoming  President's  advance  exhortation  in 
favor  of  the  decision?  These  things  look  like  the  cautious  patting  and 
petting  of  a  spirited  horse  preparatory  to  mounting  him,  when  it  is 
dreaded  that  he  may  give  the  rider  a  fall.  And  why  the  hasty  after-in- 
dorsement of  the  decision  by  the  President  and  others? 

"We  cannot  absolutely  know  that  all  these  exact  adaptations  are 
the  result  of  preconcert.  But  when  we  see  a  lot  of  framed  timbers,  dif- 
ferent portions  of  which  we  know  have  been  gotten  out  at  different  times 
by  different  workmen—Stephen,  Franklin,  Roger,  and  James,  for  in- 
stance— and  when  we  see  these  timbers  joined  together,  and  see  they 
exactly  make  the  frame  of  a  house  or  mill,  all  the  tenons  and  mortises 
exactly  adapted,  and  all  the  lengths  and  proportions  of  the  different 
pieces  exactly  adapted  to  their  respective  places,  and  not  a  piece  too 
many  or  too  few — not  omitting  even  scaffolding — or,  if  a  single  piece 
be  lacking,  we  see  the  place  in  the  frame,  exactly  fitted  and  prepared 
yet  to  bring  such  a  piece  in — in  such  a  case,  we  find  it  impossible  not  to 
believe  that  Stephen  and  Franklin  and  Roger  and  James  all  understood 
one  another  from  the  beginning,  and  all  worked  upon  a  common  plan  or 
draft  drawn  before  the  first  blow  was  struck. 

It  should  not  be  overlooked  that,  by  the  Nebraska  bill,  the  people 
of  a  State  as  well  as  a  Territory  were  to  be  left  'perfectly  free,  subject  only 


394  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

to  the  Constitution.'  Why  mention  a  State  ?  They  were  legislating  for 
Territories,  and  not  for  or  about  States. 

"Certainly,  the  people  of  a  State  are,  or  ought  to  be,  subject  to  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States ;  but  why  is  mention  of  this  lugged  into 
this  merely  territorial  law?  But  why  are  the  people  of  a  Territory  and 
the  people  of  a  State  therein  lumped  together,  and  their  relation  to  the 
Constitution  therein  treated  as  being  precisely  the  same?  While  the 
opinions  of  the  court,  by  Chief  Justice  Taney,  in  the  Dred  Scott  case,  and 
the  separate  opinions  of  all  the  concurring  judges,  expressly  declare 
that  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  neither  permits  Congress  nor  a 
Territorial  Legislature  to  exclude  slavery  from  any  United  States  Ter- 
ritory, they  all  omit  to  declare  whether  or  not  the  same  Constitution 
permits  a  State,  or  the  people  of  a  State,  to  exclude  it. 

"Possibly,  that  is  a  mere  omission;  but  who  can  be  quite  sure,  if 
McLean  or  Curtis  had  sought  to  get  into  the  opinion  a  declaration  of 
unlimited  power  in  the  people  of  a  State  to  exclude  slavery  from  their 
limits,  just  as  Chase  and  Mace  sought  to  get  such  a  declaration,  in  behalf 
of  the  people  of  a  Territory,  into  the  Nebraska  bill — I  ask,  who  can  be 
quite  sure  that  it  would  not  have  been  voted  down  in  the  one  case  as  it  has 
been  in  the  other? 

"The  nearest  approach  to  the  point  of  declaring  the  power  of  a 
State  over  slavery  is  made  by  Judge  Nelson.  He  approaches  it  more 
than  once,  using  the  precise  idea  and  almost  the  language,  too,  of  the 
Nebraska  act.  On  one  occasion,  his  exact  language  is,  'Except  in  cases 
where  the  power  is  restrained  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
the  law  of  the  State  is  supreme  over  the  subject  of  slavery  within  its 
jurisdiction/ 

"In  what  cases  the  power  of  the  States  is  so  restrained  by  the  United 
States  Constitution  is  left  an  open  question,  precisely  as  the  same  ques- 
tion as  to  the  restraint  on  the  power  of  the  Territories  was  left  open  in 
the  Nebraska  act.  Put  this  and  that  together,  and  we  have  another  nice 
little  niche,  which  we  may,  ere  long,  see  filled  with  another  Supreme 
Court  decision,  declaring  that  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  does 
not  permit  a  State  to  exclude  slavery  from  its  limits.  And  this  may 
especially  be  expected  if  the  doctrine  of  'care  not  whether  slavery  be 
voted  down  or  up'  shall  gain  upon  the  public  mind  sufficiently  to  give 
promise  that  such  a  decision  can  be  maintained  when  made. 

"Such  a  decision  is  all  that  slavery  now  lacks  of  being  alike  lawful 
in  all  the  States.  Welcome  or  unwelcome,  such  a  decision  is  probably 
coming,  and  will  soon  be  upon  us,  unless  the  power  of  the  present  po- 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  395 

litical  dynasty  shall  be  met  and  overthrown.  We  shall  lie  down  pleas- 
antly dreaming  that  the  people  of  Missouri  are  on  the  very  verge  of  mak- 
ing their  State  free,  and  we  shall  wake  to  the  reality  instead,  that  the 
Supreme  Court  has  made  Illinois  a  slave  State.  To  meet  and  overthrow 
the  power  of  that  dynasty  is  the  work  now  before  all  those  who  would 
prevent  that  consummation.  That  is  what  we  have  to  do.  How  can  we 
best  do  it? 

"There  are  those  who  denounce  us  openly  to  their  friends,  and  yet 
whisper  us  softly  that  Senator  Douglas  is  the  aptest  instrument  there 
is  with  which  to  effect  that  object.  They  wish  us  to  infer  all  from  the 
fact  that  he  now  has  a  little  quarrel  with  the  present  head  of  the  dynasty ; 
and  that  he  has  regularly  voted  with  us  on  a  single  point,  upon  which 
he  and  we  have  never  differed.  They  remind  us  that  he  is  a  great  man, 
and  that  the  largest  of  us  are  very  small  ones.  Let  this  be  granted.  But 
'a  living  dog  is  better  than  a  dead  lion ;'  for  this  work  it  is,  at  least,  a  caged 
and  toothless  one.  How  can  he  oppose  the  advances  of  slavery?  He 
don't  care  anything  about  it.  His  avowed  mission  is  impressing  the 
'public  heart'  to  care  nothing  about  it. 

"A  leading  Douglas  Democratic  newspaper,  treating  upon  this  sub- 
ject, thinks  Douglas's  superior  talent  will  be  needed  to  resist  the  revival 
of  the  African  slave  trade.  Does  Douglas  believe  an  effort  to  revive 
that  trade  is  approaching?  He  has  not  said  so.  Does  he  really  think  so? 
But,  if  it  is,  how  can  he  resist  it  ?  For  years  he  has  labored  to  prove  it  a 
sacred  right  of  white  men  to  take  negro  slaves  into  the  new  Territories. 
Can  he  possibly  show  that  it  is  less  a  sacred  right  to  buy  them  where 
they  can  be  bought  the  cheapest?  And  unquestionably  they  can  be 
bought  cheaper  in  Africa  than  Virginia.  He  has  done  all  in  his  power  to 
reduce  the  whole  question  of  slavery  to  one  of  a  mere  right  of  property ; 
and,  as  such,  how  can  he  oppose  the  foreign  slave  trade — how  can  he  re- 
fuse that  trade  in  that  'property'  shall  be  'perfectly  free' — unless  he  does 
it  as  a  protection  to  the  home  production  ?  And  as  the  home  producers 
will  probably  not  ask  the  protection,  he  will  be  wholly  without  a  ground 
of  opposition. 

"Senator  Douglas  holds,  we  know,  that  a  man  may  rightfully  be 
wiser  to-day  than  he  was  yesterday — that  he  may  rightfully  change  when 
he  finds  hmiself  wrong.  But. can  we,  for  that  reason,  run  ahead,  and 
infer  that  he  will  make  any  particular  change  of  which  he  himself  has 
given  no  intimation?  Can  we  safely  base  our  actions  upon  any  such 
vague  reference?  Now,  as  ever,  I  wish  not  to  misrepresent  Judge 
Douglas's  position,  question  his  motives,  or  do  aught  that  can  be  per- 


396  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

sonally  offensive  to  him.  Whenever,  if  ever,  he  and  we  can  come  together 
on  principle  so  that  our  cause  may  have  assistance  from  his  great  ability, 
I  hope  to  have  interposed  no  adventitious  obstacle.  But,  clearly,  he  is 
not  now  with  us — he  does  not  pretend  to  be — he  does  not  pretend 
ever  to  be. 

"Our  cause,  then,  must  be  intrusted  to,  and  conducted  by,  its  own 
undoubted  friends — those  whose  hands  are  free,  whose  hearts  are  in  the 
work — who  do  care  for  the  result.  Two  years  ago  the  Republicans  of 
the  nation  mustered  over  thirteen  thousand  strong.  We  did  this  under 
the  single  impulse  of  resistance  to  a  common  danger,  with  every  ex- 
ternal circumstance  against  us.  Of  strange,  discordant,  and  even  hostile 
elements,  we  gathered  from  the  four  winds,  and  formed  and  fought  the 
battle  through,  under  the  constant  hot  fire  of  a  disciplined,  proud  and 
pampered  enemy.  Did  we  brave  all  then,  to  falter  now? — now,  when 
that  same  enemy  is  wavering,  dissevered  and  belligerent?  The  result 
is  not  doubtful.  We  shall  not  fail — if  we  stand  firm,  we  shall  not  fail. 
Wise  counsels  may  accelerate,  or  mistakes  delay  it,  but,  sooner  or  later, 
the  victory  is  sure  to  come." 

THE  LINCOLN-DOUGLAS  JOINT  DEBATES. 

The  Springfield  speech  was  followed,  a  few  months  later,  by  a  series 
of  joint  debates  with  Senator  Douglas,  in  which  Lincoln  was  the  chal- 
lenging party,  Douglas  naming  the  conditions.  Seven  meetings  were 
held,  as  follows:  Ottawa,  August  21;  Freeport,  August  27;  Jonesboro, 
September  15;  Charleston,  September  18;  Galesburg,  October  7;  Quincy, 
October  13;  Alton,  October  15 — Douglas  opening  and  closing  at  four 
and  Lincoln  at  three.  They  not  only  aroused  the  interest  of  both  parties 
throughout  the  State,  but  attracted  the  attention  of  the  whole  country. 
A  feature  of  this  debate  was  the  seven  questions  submitted  to  Douglas 
by  Lincoln,  four  of  which  were  propounded  at  Freeport  and  the  other 
three  at  subsequent  dates.  These  were  a  sort  of  offset  to  an  equal  num- 
ber of  questions  propounded  to  Lincoln  by  Douglas  at  their  first  debate 
at  Ottawa. 

At  the  election  in  November,  1858 — although  the  Republicans 
elected  their  State  ticket  by  nearly  4,000  plurality — the  friends  of  Judge 
Douglas  secured  a  majority  in  the  Legislature,  thus  a  second  time  defeat- 
ing Lincoln's  aspirations  to  the  United  States  Senate. 

The  national  reputation  thus  wron  for  him  was  still  further  enhanced 
by  his  speeches  in  Ohio  in  September,  1859,  still  later  in  Kansas,  and 
early  in  1860  in  the  East — that  delivered  at  Cooper  Institute,  New  York, 
on  February  27th,  1860,  being  the  most  memorable.  The  latter,  by  their 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  397 

sound  sentiment,  convincing  logic,  and  lofty  patriotism,  evoked  the  ad- 
miration of  Eastern  Republicans  and  prepared  the  way  for  what  was  to 
come  at  Chicago  in  May  following. 

The  National  Republican  Convention  met  at  Chicago,  May  16,  1860, 
and  the  work  of  nominating  a  candidate  for  President  was  taken  up  on 
the  third  day— May  18.  On  the  first  ballot,  William  H.  Seward  led  Lin- 
coln by  53^  votes,  on  the  second  by  only  3^ ;  on  the  third,  Lincoln  received 
23 1£  votes  to  180  for  Seward — all  others  receiving  53^  votes.  Before  the 
result  was  announced,  Lincoln's  vote  had  increased  to  354,  and  he  was 
finally  nominated  unanimously  amid  the  wildest  enthusiasm. 

The  succeeding  campaign  was  one  of  great  earnestness  and  enthu- 
siasm on  the  part  of  his  political  friends  in  all  the  Northern  States,  and 
one  of  intense  bitterness  on  the  part  of  his  enemies,  especially  in  the 
South.  He  was  described  in  the  partisan  press  as  rude,  ignorant,  and  un- 
cultivated to  the  last  degree,  and  pictured  as  a  "baboon,"  and  even 
painted  as  a  sot  and  drunkard  after  his  election,  in  spite  of  his  abstemious 
habits.  The  election  in  November  gave  him  a  plurality  of  the  popular 
vote  and  180  electoral  votes  out  of  303,  although  not  a  single  vote  was 
returned  for  him  from  ten  Southern  States. 

On  the  morning  of  February  nth,  1861,  he  left  his  home  at  Spring- 
field, never  to  return  alive,  to  assume  the  duties  of  his  office  at  Wash- 
ington. Standing  on  the  rear  platform  of  the  train  at  the  depot,  he  ad- 
dressed his  friends  and  neighbors,  who  had  assembled  to  witness  his 
departure. 

"My  Friends :  No  one  not  in  my  position  can  realize  the  sadness  I 
feel  at  this  parting.  To  this  people  I  owe  all  that  I  am.  Here  I  have 
lived  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century.  Here  my  children  were  born, 
and  here  one  of  them  lies  buried.  I  know  not  how  soon  I  shall  see  you 
again.  I  go  to  assume  a  task  more  difficult  than  that  which  has  devolved 
upon  any  other  man  since  the  days  of  Washington.  He  never  would  have 
succeeded  except  for  the  aid  of  Divine  Providence,  upon  which  he  at  all 
times  relied.  I  feel  that  I  cannot  succeed  without  the  same  divine  bless- 
ing which  sustained  him ;  and  on  the  same  Almighty  Being  I  place  my 
reliance  for  support.  And  I  hope  you,  my  friends,  will  all  pray  that  I  may 
receive  that  divine  assistance,  without  which  I  cannot  succeed,  but  with 
which  success  is  certain.  Again,  I  bid  you  an  affectionate  farewell." 

No  man  ever  spoke  with  profounder  earnestness,  or  from  a  con- 
science stirred  to  deeper  feeling  by  the  burden  of  responsibility  which 
had  been  placed  upon  his  shoulders  by  the  choice  of  the  peopU.  His 
route  on  the  way  to  the  National  Capital  lay  through  the  States  of  In- 


398  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

diana,  Ohio,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  and  Pennsylvania,  and,  at  nearly 
every  important  station,  immense  throngs  were  gathered  to  greet  him 
and  bid  him  God-speed  in  the  cause  he  had  undertaken.  The  discovery 
of  a  plot  to  assassinate  him  in  Baltimore  led  to  a  change  of  the  program 
of  his  journey  at  Harrisburg,  and  he  passed  through  Baltimore  at  night 
in  company  with  Ward  H.  Lamon  and  Allan  Pinkerton,  the  detective,  ar- 
riving at  Washington  in  safety  on  the  morning  of  February  23d. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

LINCOLN  INAUGURATED  AS  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES — His 
INAUGURAL  ADDRESS  THE  MEANS  OF  CALLING  ALL  THE  FRIENDS 
OF  THE  CAUSE  OF  THE  UNION  TO  HlS  SUPPORT — WAR  BEGINS  IN 
EARNEST — THE  EMANCIPATION  PROCLAMATION  OF  JANUARY  IST, 
1863,  FREES  THE  SLAVES  So  LONG  HELD  IN  BONDAGE. 


President  Lincoln  entered  upon  his  duties  as  the  head  of  the  nation 
on  the  4th  of  March,  1861,  in  the  face  of  difficulties  never  before  pre- 
sented to  a  man  in  his  station.  The  country  was  on  the  verge  of  civil  war, 
and  all  knew  it,  yet  the  language  used  by  the  new  Chief  Magistrate  in  his 
inaugural  address  was  eminently  conciliatory.  This  address  was  a  marvel 
of  logic  and  clear  reasoning,  as  those  who  read  it  may  judge  for  them- 
selves. 

Excitement  was  at  fever  heat.  It  had  been  necessary  for  the  new 
President  to  steal  into  the  National  Capital  in  order  to  prevent  his  as- 
sassination, so  great  was  the  feeling  against  him  on  the  part  of  those 
who  espoused  the  cause  of  secession,  and  had  it  not  been  for  the  military 
precautions  taken  by  Lieutenant  General  Scott,  commanding  the  Army 
of  the  United  States,  it  is  doubtful  if  Mr.  Lincoln  would  have  lived 
through  the  day.  Secession  was  rampant,  and  there  were  men  in  the  vast 
assemblage  who  would  have  taken  his  life  had  they  dared. 

But  the  incoming  President  was  not  a  man  to  be  frightened.  He 
was  made  of  too  stern  material  for  that.  He  deli^/ered  his  inaugural  ad- 
dress in  a  clear,  strong  voice,  seemingly  unmindful  of  the  tumult  all 
around  him. 

LINCOLN'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS. 

"Fellow  Citizens  of  the  United  States :  In  compliance  with  a  custom 
as  old  as  the  Government  itself,  I  appear  before  you  to  address  you 
briefly,  and  to  take,  in  your  presence,  the  oath  prescribed  by  the  Consti- 
tution of  the  United  States  to  be  taken  by  the  President  before  he  enters 
on  the  execution  of  his  office. 

"I  do  not  consider  it  necessary,  at  present,  for  me  to  discuss  those 

399 


400  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

matters  of  administration  about  which  there  is  no  special  anxiety  or  ex- 
citement. Apprehension  seems  to  exist  among  the  people  of  the  South- 
ern States  that,  by  the  accession  of  a  Republican  administration,  their 
property  and  their  peace  and  personal  security  are  to  be  endangered. 
There  has  never  been  any  reasonable  cause  for  such  apprehension.  In- 
deed, the  most  ample  evidence  to  the  contrary  has  all  the  while  existed, 
and  been  open  to  their  inspection.  It  is  found  in  nearly  all  the  published 
speeches  of  him  who  now  addresses  you.  I  do  but  quote  from  one  of 
those  speeches,  when  I  declare  that  'I  have  no  purpose,  directly  or  indi- 
rectly, to  interfere  with  the  institution  of  slavery  in  the  States  where  it 
exists.'  I  believe  I  have  no  lawful  right  to  do  so.  Those  who  nominated 
and  elected  me  did  so  with  the  full  knowledge  that  I  had  made  this,  and 
made  many  similar  declarations,  and  had  never  recanted  them.  And, 
more  than  this,  they  placed  in  the  platform,  for  my  acceptance,  and  as  a 
law  to  themselves  and  to  me,  the  clear  and  emphatic  resolution  which 
I  now  read: 

"  'Resolved,  That  the  maintenance  inviolate  of  the  right  of  the 
States,  and  especially  the  right  of  each  State,  to  order  and  control  its 
own  domestic  institutions  according  to  its  own  judgment  exclusively,  is 
essential  to  that  balance  of  power  on  which  the  perfection  and  endur- 
ance of  our  political  fabric  depend ;  and  we  denounce  the  lawless  invasion 
by  armed  force  of  the  soil  of  any  State  or  Territory,  no  matter  under  what 
pretext,  as  among  the  gravest  of  crimes.' 

"I  now  reiterate  these  sentiments ;  and  in  doing  so  I  only  press  upon 
the  public  attention  the  most  conclusive  evidence  of  which  the  case  is 
susceptible,  that  the  property,  peace,  and  security  of  no  section  are  to  be 
in  any  wise  endangered  by  the  now  incoming  administration. 

"I  add,  too,  that  all  the  protection  which,  consistently  with  the 
Constitution  and  the  laws,  can  be  given,  will  be  given  to  all  the  States 
when  lawfully  demanded,  for  whatever  cause,  as  cheerfully  to  one  section 
as  to  another. 

"There  is  much  controversy  about  the  delivering  up  of  fugitives  from 
service  or  labor.  The  clause  I  now  read  is  as  plainly  written  in  the  Con- 
stitution as  any  other  of  its  provisions : 

"No  person  held  to  service  or  labor  in  one  State  under  the  laws 
thereof,  escaping  into  another,  shall,  in  consequence  of  any  law  or  regula- 
tion therein,  be  discharged  from  such  service  or  labor,  but  shall  be  de- 
livered up  on  claim  of  the  party  to  whom  such  service  or  labor  may  be 
due.' 

"It  is  scarcely  questioned  that  this  provision  was  intended  by,  those 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  401 

who  made  it  for  the  reclaiming  of  what  we  call  fugitive  slaves ;  and  the 
intention  of  the  lawgiver  is  the  law. 

"All  the  members  of  Congress  swear  their  support  to  the  whole  Con- 
stitution— to  this  provision  as  well  as  any  other. 

"To  the  proposition,  then,  that  slaves  whose  cases  come  within  the 
terms  of  this  clause  'shall  be  delivered  up/  their  oaths  are  unanimous. 
Now,  if  they  would  make  the  effort  in  good  temper,  could  they  not,  with 
nearly  equal  unanimity,  frame  and  pass  a  law  by  means  of  which  to  keep 
good  that  unanimous  oath?  -  .'; 

"There  is  some  difference  of  opinion  whether  this  clause  should  be 
enforced  by  national  or  by  State  authority ;  but  surely  that  difference  is 
not  a  very  material  one. 

"If  the  slave  is  to  be  surrendered,  it  can  be  of  little  consequence  to 
him  or  to  others  by  which  authority  it  is  done ;  and  should  any  one,  in 
any  case,  be  content  that  this  oath  shall  go  unkept  on  a  mere  inconse- 
quential controversy  as  to  how  it  shall  be  kept  ? 

"Again,  in  any  law  upon  this  subject,  ought  not  all  the  safeguards  of 
liberty  known  in  civilized  and  humane  jurisprudence  to  be  introduced,  so 
that  a  free  man  be  not,  in  any  case,  surrendered  as  a  slave  ?  And  might 
it  not  be  well  at  the  same  time  to  provide  by  law  for  the  enforcement  of 
that  clause  in  the  Constitution  which  guarantees  that  'the  citizens  of 
each  State  shall  be  entitled  to  all  the  privileges  and  immunities  of  citizens 
in  the  several  States'  ? 

"I  take  the  official  oath  to-day  with  no  mental  reservations,  and  with 
no  purpose  to  construe  the  Constitution  or  laws  by  any  hypercritical 
rules;  and  while  I  do  not  choose  now  to  specify  particular  acts  of  Con- 
gress as  proper  to  be  enforced,  I  do  suggest  that  it  will  be  much  safer 
for  all,  both  in  official  and  private  stations,  to  conform  to  and  abide  by 
all  those  acts  which  stand  unrepealed,  than  to  violate  any  of  them,  trust- 
ing to  find  impunity  in  having  them  held  to  be  unconstitutional. 

"It  is  seventy-two  years  since  the  first  inauguration  of  a  President 
under  our  national  Constitution.  During  that  period  fifteen  different  and 
very  distinguished  citizens  have  in  succession  administered  the  executive 
branch  of  the  Government.  They  have  conducted  it  through  many  perils, 
and  generally  with  great  success.  Yet,  with  all  this  scope  for  precedent, 
I  now  enter  upon  the  same  task  for  the  brief  Constitutional  term  of  four 
years,  under  great  and  peculiar  difficulties. 

"A  disruption  of  the  Federal  Union,  heretofore  only  menaced,  is 
now  formidably  attempted.  I  hold  that  in  the  contemplation  of  universal 
law  and  of  the  Constitution  the  Union  of  these  States  is  perpetual.  Per- 


4o2  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

petuity  is  implied,  if  not  expressed,  in  the  fundamental  law  of  all  national 
governments.  It  is  safe  to  assert  that  no  government  proper  ever  had 
a  provision  in  its  organic  law  for  its  own  termination.  Continue  to  exe- 
cute all  the  express  provisions  of  our  national  Constitution,  and  the 
Union  will  endure  forever,  it  being  impossible  to  destroy  except  by  some 
action  not  provided  for  in  the  instrument  itself. 

"Again,  if  the  United  States  be  not  a  government  proper,  but  an 
association  of  States  in  the  nature  of  a  contract  merely,  can  it,  as  a  con- 
tract, be  peaceably  unmade  by  less  than  all  the  parties  who  made  it? 
One  party  to  a  contract  may  violate  it — break  it,  so  to  speak ;  but  does 
it  not  require  all  to  lawfully  rescind  it?  Descending  from  these  general 
principles,  we  find  the  proposition,  that  in  legal  contemplation  the  Union 
is  perpetual,  confirmed  by  the  history  of  the  Union  itself. 

"The  Union  is  much  older  than  the  Constitution.  It  was  formed,  in 
fact,  by  the  Articles  of  Association  in  1774.  It  was  matured  and  con- 
tinued in  the  Declaration  of  Independence  in  1776.  It  was  further  ma- 
tured, and  the  faith  of  all  the  then  thirteen  States  expressly  plighted  and 
engaged  that  it  should  be  perpetual,  by  the  Articles  of  the  Confederation 
in  1778;  and,  finally,  in  1787,  one  of  the  declared  objects  for  ordaining 
and  establishing  the  Constitution  was  'to  form  a  more  perfect  union.' 
But  if  destruction  of  the  Union  by  cne,  or  by  a  part  only  of  the  States, 
be  lawfully  possible,  the  union  is  less  perfect  than  before,  the  Constitu- 
tion having  lost  the  vital  element  of  perpetuity. 

"It  follows  from  these  views,  that  no  State,  upon  its  own  mere  mo- 
tion, can  lawfully  get  out  of  the  Union ;  that  resolves  and  ordinances  to 
that  effect  are  legally  void,  and  that  acts  of  violence  within  any  State  or 
States,  against  the  authority  of  the  United  States,  are  insurrectionary  or 
revolutionary,  according  to  circumstances. 

"I,  therefore,  consider  that,  in  view  of  the  Constitution  and  the  laws, 
the  Union  is  unbroken,  and  to  the  extent  of  my  ability  I  shall  take  care, 
as  the  Constitution  itself  expressly  enjoins  upon  me,  that  the  laws  of  the 
Union  shall  be  faithfully  executed  in  all  the  States.  Doing  this,  which  I 
deem  to  be  only  a  simple  duty  on  my  part,  I  shall  perfectly  perform  it,  so 
far  as  is  practicable,  unless  my  rightful  masters,  the  American  people, 
shall  withhold  the  requisition,  or  in  some  authoritative  manner  direct  the 
contrary. 

"I  trust  this  will  not  be  regarded  as  a  menace,  but  only  as  the  de- 
clared purpose  of  the  Union  that  it  will  constitutionally  defend  and  main- 
tain itself. 


Lincoln,  the  Rail  Splitter 


The  Lincoln  Monument  at  Springfield.  111. 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  407 

"In  doing  this  there  need  be  no  bloodshed  or  violence;  and  there 
shall  be  none  unless  it  is  forced  upon  the  national  authority. 

"The  power  confided  to  me  will  be  used  to  hold,  occupy,  and  possess 
the  property  and  places  belonging  to  the  Government,  and  collect  the 
duties  and  imposts;  but  beyond  what  may  be  necessary  for  these  objects, 
there  will  be  no  invasion,  no  using  of  force  against  or  among  the  people 
anywhere. 

"Where  hostility  to  the  United  States  shall  be  so  great  and  so  uni- 
versal as  to  prevent  the  competent  resident  citizens  from  holding  Federal 
offices,  there  will  be  no  attempt  to  force  obnoxious  strangers  among  the 
people  that  object.  While  the  strict  legal  right  may  exist  in  the  Govern- 
ment to  enforce  the  exercise  of  these  offices,  the  attempt  to  do  so  would 
be  so  irritating,  and  so  nearly  impracticable  withal,  that  I  deem  it  best  to 
forego,  for  the  time,  the  uses  of  such  offices. 

"The  mails,  unless  repelled,  will  continue  to  be  furnished  in  all  parts 
of  the  Union. 

"So  far  as  possible,  the  people  everywhere  shall  have  that  sense  of 
perfect  security  which  is  most  favorable  to  calm  thought  and  reflection. 

"The  course  here  indicated  will  be  followed,  unless  current  events 
and  experience  shall  show  a  modification  or  change  to  be  proper ;  and  in 
every  case  and  exigency  my  best  discretion  will  be  exercised  according 
to  the  circumstances  actually  existing,  and  with  a  view  and  hope  of  a 
peaceable  solution  of  the  national  troubles,  and  the  restoration  of  fra- 
ternal sympathies  and  affections. 

"That  there  are  persons  in  one  section  or  another  who  seek  to  de- 
stroy the  Union  at  all  events,  and  are  glad  of  any  pretext  to  do  it,  I  will 
neither  affirm  nor  deny.  But  if  there  be  such,  I  need  address  no  word  to 
them. 

"To  those,  however,  who  love  the  Union,  may  I  not  speak,  before 
entering  upon  so  grave  a  matter  as  the  destruction  of  our  national  fabric, 
with  all  its  benefits,  its  memories  and  its  hopes  ?  Would  it  not  be  well  to 
ascertain  why  we  do  it  ?  Will  you  hazard  so  desperate  a  step  while  there 
is  any  possibility  that  any  portion  of  the  ills  you  fly  from  have  no  real 
existence  ?  Will  you,  while  the  certain  ills  you  fly  to  are  greater  than  all 
the  real  ones  you  fly  from — will  you  risk  the  commission  of  so  fearful  a 
mistake?  All  profess  to  be  content  in  the  Union,  if  all  Constitutional 
rights  can  be  maintained.  Is  it  true,  then,  that  any  right,  plainly  written 
in  the  Constitution,  has  been  denied?  I  think  not.  Happily  the  human 
mind  is  so  constituted  that  no  party  can  reach  to  the  audacity  of  doing 
this. 


4o8  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

"Think,  if  you  can,  of  a  single  instance  in  which  a  plainly-written 
provision  of  the  Constitution  has  ever  been  denied.  If,  by  the  mere  force 
of  numbers,  a  majority  should  deprive  a  minority  of  any  clearly-written 
Constitutional  right,  it  might,  in  a  moral  point  of  view,  justify  revolu- 
tion; it  certainly  would,  if  such  a  right  were  a  vital  one.  But  such  is 
not  our  case. 

"All  the  vital  rights  of  minorities  and  of  individuals  are  so  plainly 
assured  to  them  by  affirmations  and  negations,  guarantees  and  prohibi- 
tions in  the  Constitution,  that  controversies  never  arise  concerning  them. 
But  no  organic  law  can  ever  be  framed  with  provision  specifically  ap- 
plicable to  every  question  which  may  occur  in  practical  administration. 
No  foresight  can  anticipate,  nor  any  document  of  reasonable  length  con- 
tain, express  provisions  for  all  possible  questions.  Shall  fugitives  from 
labor  be  surrendered  by  national  or  by  State  authorities?  The  Constitu- 
tion does  not  expressly  say.  Must  Congress  protect  slavery  in  the  Terri- 
tories? The  Constitution  does  not  expressly  say.  From  questions  of 
this  class  spring  all  our  Constitutional  controversies,  and  we  divide  upon 
them  into  majorities  and  minorities. 

"If  the  minority  did  not  acquiesce,  the  majority  must,  or  the  Gov- 
ernment must  cease.  There'  is  no  alternative  for  continuing  the  Govern- 
ment acquiescence  on  the  one  side  or  the  other.  If  a  minority  in  such  a 
case  will  secede  rather  than  acquiesce,  they  make  a  precedent,  which,  in 
time,  will  ruin  and  divide  them,  for  a  minority  of  their  own  will  secede 
from  them  whenever  a  majority  refuses  to  be  controlled  by  such  a  mi- 
nority. For  instance,  why  may  not  any  portion  of  a  new  confederacy  a 
year  or  two  hence  arbitrarily  secede  again,  precisely  as  portions  of  the 
present  Union  now  claim  to  secede  from  it?  All  who  cherish  disunion 
sentiments  are  now  being  educated  to  the  exact  temper  of  doing  this. 
Is  there  such  a  perfect  identity  of  interests  among  the  States  to  compose 
a  new  Union  as  to  produce  harmony  only,  and  prevent  renewed  seces- 
sion ?  Plainly,  the  central  idea  of  secession  is  the  essence  of  anarchy. 

"A  majority  held  in  check  by  Constitutional  check  limitation,  and  al- 
ways changing  easily  with  deliberate  changes  of  popular  opinions  and 
sentiments,  is  the  only  true  sovereign  of  a  free  people.  Whoever  rejects  it 
does,  of  necessity,  fly  to  anarchy  or  despotism.  Unanimity  is  impos- 
sible ;  the  rule  of  a  minority,  as  a  permanent  arrangement,  is  wholly  in- 
admissible. So  that,  rejecting  the  majority  principle,  anarchy  or  des- 
potism, in  some  form,  is  all  that  is  left. 

"I  do  not  forget  the  position  assumed  by  some,  that  Constitutional 
questions  are  to  be  decided  by  the  Supreme  Court,  nor  do  I  deny  that 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  409 

such  decisions  must  be  binding  in  any  case  upon  the  parties  to  a  suit, 
while  they  are  also  entitled  to  a  very  high  respect  and  consideration  in 
all  parallel  cases  by  all  the  other  departments  of  the  Government;  and 
while  it  is  obviously  possible  that  such  a  decision  may  be  erroneous  in 
any  given  case,  still,  the  evil  following  it,  being  limited  to  that  particular 
case,  with  the  chance  that  it  may  be  overruled,  and  never  become  a  prece- 
dent for  other  cases,  can  better  be  borne  than  could  the  evils  of  a  differ- 
ent practice. 

"At  the  same  time,  the  candid  citizen  must  confess  that,  if  the  policy 
of  the  Government  upon  the  vital  questions  affecting  the  whole  people 
is  to  be  irrevocably  fixed  by  the  decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court  the  in- 
stant they  are  made,  as  in  ordinary  litigation  between  parties  in  personal 
action,  the  people  will  have  ceased  to  be  their  own  masters,  unless  having 
to  that  extent  practically  resigned  their  Government  into  the  hands  of 
that  eminent  tribunal. 

"Nor  is  there  in  this  view  any  assault  upon  the  court  or  the  judges. 
It  is  a  duty  from  which  they  may  not  shrink,  to  decide  cases  properly 
brought  before  them ;  and  it  is  no  fault  of  theirs  if  others  seek  to  turn 
their  decisions  to  political  purposes.  One  section  of  our  country  believes 
slavery  is  right,  and  ought  to  be  extended,  while  the  other  believes  that 
it  is  wrong,  and  ought  not  to  be  extended ;  and  this  is  the  only  substantial 
dispute ;  and  the  fugitive  slave  cause  of  the  Constitution  and  the  law  for 
the  suppression  of  the  slave  trade  are  each  as  well  enforced,  perhaps,  as 
any  law  can  ever  be  in  a  community  where  the  moral  sense  of  the  people 
imperfectly  supports  the  law  itself.  The  great  body  of  the  people  abide 
by  the  dry  legal  obligation  in  both  cases,  and  a  few  break  over  in  each. 
This,  I  think,  cannot  be  perfectly  cured,  and  it  would  be  worse,  in  both 
cases,  after  the  separation  of  the  sections  than  before.  The  foreign  slave 
trade,  now  imperfectly  suppressed,  would  be  ultimately  revived,  wLhout 
restriction  in  one  section;  while  fugitive  slaves,  now  only  partially  sur- 
rendered, would  not  be  surrendered  at  all  by  the  other. 

"Physically  speaking,  we  cannot  separate;  we  cannot  remove  our 
respective  sections  from  each  other,  nor  build  an  impassable  wall  between 
them.  A  husband  and  wife  may  be  divorced,  and  go  out  of  the  presence 
and  beyond  the  reach  of  each  other,  but  the  different  parts  of  our  coun- 
try cannot  do  this.  They  can  but  remain  face  to  face,  and  intercourse, 
either  amicable  or  hostile,  must  continue  betv/een  them.  Is  it  possible, 
then,  to  make  that  intercourse  more  advantageous  or  more  satisfactory 
after  separation  than  before  ?  Can  aliens  make  treaties  easier  than  friends 
can  make  laws?  Can  treaties  be  more  faithfully  enforced  betv/een  aliens 


4io  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

than  laws  can  among  friends  ?  Suppose  you  go  to  war,  you  cannot  fight 
always ;  and  when,  after  much  loss  on  both  sides,  and  no  gain  on  either, 
you  cease  fighting,  the  identical  questions  as  to  terms  of  intercourse  are 
again  upon  you. 

"This  country,  with  its  institutions,  belongs  to  the  people  who  in- 
habit it.  Whenever  they  shall  grow  weary  of  the  existing  government, 
they  can  exercise  their  constitutional  right  of  amending,  or  their  revolu- 
tionary right  to  dismember  or  overthrow  it.  I  cannot  be  ignorant  of  the 
fact  that  many  worthy  and  patriotic  citizens  are  desirous  of  having  the 
national  Constitution  amended.  While  I  make  no  recommendation  of 
amendment,  I  fully  recognize  the  full  authority  of  the  people  over  the 
whole  subject,  to  be  exercised  in  either  of  the  modes  prescribed  in  the 
instrument  itself,  and  I  should,  under  existing  circumstances,  favor  rather 
than  oppose  a  fair  opportunity  being  afforded  the  people  to  act  upon  it. 

"I  will  venture  to  add,  that  to  me  the  convention  mode  seems  prefer- 
able/ in  that  it  allows  amendments  to  originate  with  the  people  them- 
selves, instead  of  only  permitting  them  to  take  or  reject  propositions 
originated  by  others  not  especially  chosen  for  the  purpose,  and  which 
might  not  be  precisely  such  as  they  would  wish  either  to  accept  or  refuse. 
I  understand  that  a  proposed  amendment  to  the  Constitution  (which 
amendment,  however,  I  have  not  seen)  has  passed  Congress,  to  the  effect 
that  the  Federal  Government  shall  never  interfere  with  the  domestic 
institutions  of  States,  including  that  of  persons  held  to  service.  To  avoid 
misconstruction  of  what  I  have  said,  I  depart  from  my  purpose  not  to 
speak  of  particular  amendments,  so  far  as  to  say  that,  holding  such  a 
provision  now  to  be  implied  Constitutional  law,  I  have  no  objections  to 
its  being  made  express  and  irrevocable. 

The  Chief  Magistrate  derives  all  his  authority  from  the  people,  and 
they  have  conferred  none  upon  him  to  fix  the  terms  for  the  separation  of 
the  States.  The  people,  themselves,  also,  can  do  this  if  they  choose ;  but 
the  Executive,  as  such,  has  nothing  to  do  with  it.  His  duty  is  to  admin- 
ister the  present  Government  as  it  came  to  his  hands,  and  to  transmit  it 
unimpaired  by  him  to  his  successor.  Why  should  there  not  be  a  patient 
confidence  in  the  ultimate  justice  of  the  people  ?  Is  there  any  better  or 
equal  hope  in  the  world  ?  In  our  present  differences  is  either  party  with- 
out faith  of  being  in  the  right  ?  If  the  Almighty  Ruler  of  nations,  with 
His  eternal  truth  and  justice,  be  on  your  side  of  the  North,  or  on  yours 
of  the  South,  that  truth  and  that  justice  will  surely  prevail  by  the  judg- 
ment of  this  great  tribunal,  the  American  people.  By  the  frame  of  the 
Government  under  which  we  live,  this  same  people  have  wisely  given 


'ABRAHAM   LINCOLN.  4" 

their  public  servants  but  little  power  for  mischief,  and  have  with  equal 
wisdom  provided  for  the  return  of  that  little  to  their  own  hands  at  very 
short  intervals.  While  the  people  retain  their  virtue  and  vigilance,  no 
administration,  by  any  extreme  wickedness  or  folly,  can  very  seriously 
injure  the  Government  in  the  short  space  of  four  years. 

"My  countrymen,  one  and  all,  think  calmly  and  well  upon  this  sub- 
ject. Nothing  valuable  can  be  lost  by  taking  time. 

"If  there  be  an  object  to  hurry  any  of  you,  in  hot  haste,  to  a  step 
which  you  would  never  take  deliberately,  that  object  will  be  frustrated  by 
taking  time ;  but  no  good  can  be  frustrated  by  it. 

"Such  of  you  as  are  now  dissatisfied  still  have  the  old  Constitution 
unimpaired,  and,  on  the  sensitive  point,  the  laws  of  your  own  framing 
under  it;  while  the  new  administration  will  have  no  immediate  power, 
if  it  would,  to  change  either. 

"If  it  were  admitted  that  you  who  are  dissatisfied  hold  the  right  side 
in  the  dispute,  there  is  still  no  single  reason  for  precipitate  action.  Intel- 
ligence, patriotism,  Christianity,  and  a  firm  reliance  upon  Him  who  has 
never  yet  forsaken  this  favored  land,  are  still  competent  to  adjust,  in  the 
best  way,  all  our  present  difficulty. 

"In  your  hands,  my  dissatisfied  fellow-countrymen,  and  not  in  mine, 
is  the  momentous  issue  of  civil  war.  The  Government  will  not  assail  you. 

"You  can  have  no  conflict  without  being  yourselves  the  aggressors. 
You  have  no  oath  registered  in  heaven  to  destroy  the  Government ;  while 
I  shall  have  the  most  solemn  one  to  preserve,  protect  and  defend  it. 

"I  am  loth  to  close.  We  are  not  enemies,  but  friends.  We  must  not 
be  enemies.  Though  passion  may  have  strained,  it  must  not  break  our 
bonds  of  affection. 

"The  mystic  cords  of  memory,  stretching  from  every  battle-field  and 
patriot  grave  to  every  living  heart  and  hearthstone  all  over  this  broad 
land,  will  yet  swell  the  chorus  of  the  Union,  when  again  touched,  as  surely 
they  will  be,  by  the  better  angels  of  our  nature." 

UNION  MEN  STAND  BY  LINCOLN. 

The  effect  of  this  address  throughout  the  country  was  electrical.  All 
men  devoted  to  the  cause  of  the  Union  rallied  around  the  President,  who 
had  declared  in  his  inaugural  address  that  his  first  and  only  thought  was 
the  preservation  of  the  Union  of  the  States.  All  other  issues  were  for- 
gotten, as  subservient  to  the  issues  of  the  hour,  for  it  was  thoroughly  ap- 
preciated that  there  was  now  a  man  at  the  head  of  the  Government  who 
said  what  he  meant  and  meant  what  he  said. 

In  a  little  more  than  a  month  after  the  inauguration  of  President  Lin- 


4i2  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

coin  grim  war  was  on,  and  it  was  war  in  earnest.  Fort  Sumter  was  fired 
upon,  the  Confederacy  became  a  fixed  fact,  the  President  called  for  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  of  troops,  battles  were  won  and  lost,  the  situation  be- 
came the  gravest,  and  the  Nation  was  called  upon  to  confront  grave 
situations,  and  yet  the  brave  heart  of  the  President  never  faltered.  He 
knew  victory  would  rest  with  the  cause  of  justice  at  last. 

While  Lincoln  was  necessarily  impatient  for  the  end,  he  was  a  man 
who  knew  how  to  labor  and  to  wait.  When  the  Civil  War  had  been  in 
progress  nearly  two  years  he,  biding  his  time  meanwhile,  prepared  and 
issued  his  Emancipation  Proclamation,  which  resulted  in  the  freedom  of 
the  slaves  and  forever  broke  the  power  of  the  slaveholders  in  the  United 
States  of  America. 

THE  PROCLAMATION  OF  EMANCIPATION. 

The  following  is  the  complete  text  of  the  immortal  emancipation 
proclamation,  issued  by  President  Lincoln,  January  I,  1863,  at  Wash- 
ington : 

"WTiereas,  on  the  twenty-second  day  of  September,  in  the  year  of 
our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-two,  a  proclamation  was 
issued  by  the  President  of  the  United  States,  containing  among  other 
things,  the  following,  to-wit: 

"  'That  on  the  first  day  of  January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thou- 
sand eight  hundred  and  sixty-three,  all  persons  held  as  slaves  within  any 
State  or  designated  part  of  a  State,  the  people  whereof  shall  then  be  in 
rebellion  against  the  United  States,  shall  be  then,  thenceforward,  and 
forever  free,  and  the  Executive  Government  of  the  United  States,  includ- 
ing the  military  and  naval  authorities  thereof,  will  recognize  and  maintain 
the  freedom  of  such  persons,  and  will  do  no  act  or  acts  to  repress  such 
persons,  or  any  of  them,  in  any  efforts  they  may  make  for  their  actual 
freedom. 

"  'That  the  Executive  will,  on  the  first  day  of  January  aforesaid,  by 
proclamation,  designate  the  States  and  parts  of  States,  if  any,  in  which 
the  people  thereof  respectively  shall  then  be  in  rebellion  against  the  United 
States;  and  the  fact  that  any  State  or  the  people  thereof  shall  on  that 
day  be  in  good  faith  represented  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  by 
members  chosen  thereto,  at  elections  wherein  a  majority  of  the  qualified 
voters  of  such  State  shall  have  participated,  shall,  in  the  absence  of  a 
strong  countervailing  testimony,  be  deemed  conclusive  evidence  that 
such  State,  and  the  people  thereof,  are  not  then  in  rebellion  against  the 
United  States.' 

"Now,  therefore,  I,  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the  United  States, 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  413 

by  virtue  of  the  power  in  me  vested  as  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Army 
and  Navy  of  the  United  States  in  time  of  actual  armed  rebellion  against 
the  authority  and  Government  of  the  United  States,  and  as  a  fit  and  neces- 
sary war  measure  for  suppressing  said  rebellion,  do,  on  the  first  day  of 
January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty- 
three,  and  in  accordance  with  my  purpose  so  to  do,  publicly  proclaimed 
for  the  full  period  of  one  hundred  days  from  the  day  first  above  men- 
tioned, order  and  designate,  as  the  States  and  parts  of  States  wherein  the 
people  thereof  respectively  are  this  day  in  rebellion  against  the  United 
States,  the  following,  to-wit : 

"Arkansas,  Texas,  Louisiana  (except  the  parishes  of  St.  Bernard, 
Plaquemine,  Jefferson,  St.  John,  St.  Charles,  St.  James,  Ascension,  As- 
sumption, Terre  Bonne,  Lafourche,  St.  Marie,  St.  Martin,  and  Orleans, 
including  the  City  of  New  Orleans),  Mississippi,  Alabama,  Florida,  Geor- 
gia, North  Carolina,  South  Carolina  and  Virginia  (except  the  forty-eight 
counties  designated  as  West  Virginia,  and  also  the  counties  of  Berkeley, 
Accomac,  Northampton,  Elizabeth  City,  York,  Princess  Anne,  and  Nor- 
folk, including  the  cities  of  Norfolk  and  Portsmouth),  and  which  excepted 
parts  are  for  the  present  left  precisely  as  if  this  proclamation  were  not 
issued. 

"And,  by  virtue  of  the  power  and  for  the  purpose  aforesaid,  I  do  order 
and  declare  that  all  persons  held  as  slaves  within  said  designated  States 
and  parts  of  States,  are,  and  henceforward  shall  be,  free ;  and  that  the 
Executive  Government  of  the  United  States,  including  the  military  and 
naval  authorities  thereof,  will  recognize  and  maintain  the  freedom  of 
said  persons. 

"And  I  hereby  enjoin  upon  the  people  so  declared  to  be  free,  to  ab- 
stain from  all  violence,  unless  in  necessary  self-defense ;  and  I  recommend 
to  them,  that  in  all  cases,  when  allowed,  they  labor  faithfully  for  reason- 
able wages. 

"And  I  further  declare  and  make  known  that  such  persons  of  suitable 
condition  will  be  received  into  the  armed  service  of  the  United  States, 
to  garrison  forts,  positions,  stations  and  other  places,  and  to  man  vessels 
of  all  sorts  in  said  service. 

"And  upon  this  act,  sincerely  believed  to  be  an  act  of  justice,  war- 
ranted by  the  Constitution,  upon  military  necessity,  I  invoke  the  consid- 
erate judgment  of  mankind,  and  the  gracious  favor  of  the  Almighty  God. 


4i4  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

"In  testimony  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  name,  and  caused 
the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

"Done  at  the  City  of  Washington,  this  first  day  of  Jan- 
uary, in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
[L.S.]  and  sixty-three,  and  of  the  independence  of  the  United 

States  the  eighty-seventh. 

"ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 
"By  the  President, 
"WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  Secretary  of  State." 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

LINCOLN'S  BOYHOOD  AND  YOUNG  MANHOOD  AS  ILLUSTRATED  BY  THE 
STORIES  TOLD  REGARDING  HIM — How  HE  ACQUIRED  THE  SOBRIQUET 
OF  "HONEST  ABE" — THE  FIRST  DOLLAR  HE  EVER  EARNED — EXPERI- 
ENCES ON  THE  MISSISSIPPI  ON  A  FLATBOAT — PAID  EVERYTHING  HE 

OWED. 


No  man  in  public  life  in  the  history  of  the  United  States  rose  from 
such  obscurity  and  abject  poverty  as  Abraham  Lincoln.  He  was  heaven- 
born  and  possessed  attributes  little  less  than  divine,  and  yet  his  surround- 
ings at  birth  and  for  many  years  thereafter  were  of  the  most  squalid  de- 
scription. 

Of  all  those  who  rose  to  prominence  in  this  country  and  fought  the 
battles  which  resulted  in  making  the  Republic  what  it  is,  Lincoln  was  the 
most  typical  of  the  self-made.  He  triumphed  over  every  possible  discour- 
agement, surmounted  all  obstacles  to  his  advancement,  and  appeared  upon 
the  scene  at  the  opportune  time.  There  may  have  been  others  who  were 
fully  as  capable,  but  Lincoln  was,  all  in  all,  the  man  the  country  needed  at 
the  critical  period. 

Whether  any  other  man  would  have  served  his  country  as  well  is  a 
problem  yet  to  be  solved.  That  he  was  the  man  of  the  time  is  conceded. 
Many  did  not  know  it  then,  but  they  know  it  now.  His  personality  was 
not  altogether  pleasing.  The  East  thought  him  uncouth  and  rough.  The 
West  had  faith  in  him.  And  faith  is  everything. 

How  LINCOLN  EARNED  His  FIRST  DOLLAR. 

"Did  you  ever  hear  how  I  earned  my  first  dollar?"  inquired  Presi- 
dent Lincoln  of  Secretary  of  State  Seward  at  a  Cabinet  meeting  one  day. 

"No,"  rejoined  Mr.  Seward. 

"Well,"  continued  Mr.  Lincoln,  "I  belonged,  you  know,  to  what  they 
called  down  South  the  'scrubs.'  We  had  succeeded  in  raising,  chiefly  by 
my  labor,  sufficient  produce,  as  I  thought,  to  justify  me  in  taking  it  down 
the  river  to  sell. 

"After  much  persuasion,  I  got  the  consent  of  mother  to  go,  and  con- 
structed a  little  flatboat,  large  enough  to  take  a  barrel  or  two  of  things 
that  we  had  gathered,  with  myself  and  little  bundle,  down  to  the  Southern 

415 


4i6  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

market.  A  steamer  was  coming  down  the  river.  We  have,  you  know, 
no  wharves  on  the  Western  streams ;  and  the  custom  was,  if  passengers 
were  at  any  of  the  landings,  for  them  to  go  out  in  a  boat,  the  steamer 
stopping  and  taking  them  on  board. 

"I  was  contemplating  my  new  flatboat,  and  wondering  whether  I 
could  make  it  strong  or  improve  it  in  any  particular,  when  two  men  came 
down  to  the  shore  in  carriages  with  trunks,  and  looking  at  the  different 
boats  singled  out  mine,  and  asked,  'Who  owns  this  ?'  I  answered,  some- 
what modestly,  'I  do.'  'Will  you/  said  one  of  them,  'take  us  and  our 
trunks  out  to  the  steamer  ?'  'Certainly,'  said  I.  I  was  very  glad  to  have 
the  chance  of  earning  something.  I  supposed  that  each  of  them  would 
give  me  one  or  two  or  three  bits.  The  trunks  were  put  on  my  flatboat, 
the  passengers  seated  themselves  on  the  trunks,  and  I  sculled  them  out  to 
the  steamboat. 

"They  got  on  board,  and  I  lifted  up  their  heavy  trunks,  and  put  them 
on  deck.  The  steamer  was  about  to  put  on  steam  again,  when  I  called 
out  that  they  had  forgotten  to  pay  me.  Each  of  them  took  from  his  pocket 
a  silver  half-dollar,  and  threw  it  on  the  floor  of  my  boat.  I  could  scarcely 
believe  my  eyes  when  I  picked  up  the  money.  Gentlemen,  you  may  think 
it  was  a  very  little  thing,  and  in  these  days  it  seems  to  me  a  trifle ;  but  it 
was  a  most  important  incident  in  my  life.  I  could  scarcely  credit,  that  I, 
a  poor  boy,  had  earned  a  dollar.  The  world  seemed  wider  and  fairer 
before  me.  I  was  a  more  hopeful  and  confident  being  from  that  time." 

LINCOLN'S  EXPERIENCE  ON  A  MISSISSIPPI  FLATBOAT. 

At  the  age  of  19,  Abraham  made  his  second  essay  in  navigation,  and 
at  this  time  caught  something  more  than  a  glimpse  of  the  great  world  in 
which  he  was  destined  to  play  so  important  a  part.  A  trading  neighbor 
applied  to  him  to  take  charge  of  a  flatboat  and  its  cargo,  and,  in  company 
with  his  own  son,  to  take  it  to  the  sugar  plantations  near  New  Orleans. 
The  entire  business  of  the  trip  was  placed  in  Abraham's  hands. 

The  fact  tells  its  own  story  touching  the  young  man's  reputation  for 
capacity  and  integrity.  He  had  never  made  the  trip,  knew  nothing  of  the 
journey,  was  unaccustomed  to  business  transactions,  had  never  been  much 
upon  the  river ;'  but  his  tact,  ability  and  honesty  were  so  trusted  that  the 
trader  was  willing  to  risk  his  cargo  and  his  son  in  Lincoln's  care. 

The  incidents  of  a  trip  like  this  were  not  likely  to  be  exciting,  but 
there  were  many  social  chats  with  the  settlers  and  hunters  along  the  banks 
of  the  Ohio  and  the  Mississippi,  and  there  was  much  hailing  of  similar 
craft  afloat.  Arriving  at  a  sugar  plantation  somewhere  between  Natchez 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  41? 

and  New  Orleans,  the  boat  was  pulled  in,  and  tied  to  the  shore  for  pur- 
poses of  trade ;  and  here  an  incident  occurred  which  was  sufficiently  excit- 
ing, and  one  which,  in  the  memory  of  recent  events,  reads  somewhat 
strangely. 

Here  seven  negroes  attempted  the  life  of  the  future  liberator  of  the 
race,  and  it  is  not  improbable  that  some  of  them  have  lived  to  be  emanci- 
pated by  his  proclamation.  Night  had  fallen,  and  the  two  tired  voyagers 
had  lain  down  on  their  hard  bed  for  sleep.  Hearing  a  noise  on  shore, 
Abraham  shouted : 

"Who's  there?" 

The  noise  continuing  and  no  one  replying,  he  sprang  to  his  feet  and 
saw  seven  negroes,  evidently  bent  on  plunder. 

Abraham  guessed  the  errand  at  once,  and  seizing  a  hand-spike,  rushed 
towards  them,  and  knocked  one  into  the  water  the  moment  he  touched  the 
boat.  The  second,  third,  and  fourth  who  leaped  on  board  were  served  in 
the  same  rough  way.  Seeing  that  they  were  not  likely  to  make  headway 
in  their  thieving  enterprise,  the  remainder  turned  to  flee. 

Abraham  and  his  companion,  growing  excited  and  warm  with  their 
work,  leaped  on  shore,  and  followed  them.  Both  were  too  swift  on  foot 
for  the  negroes,  and  all  of  them  received  a  severe  pounding.  They  re- 
turned to  their  boat  just  as  the  others  escaped  from  the  water,  but  the 
latter  fled  into  the  darkness  as  fast  as  their  legs  could  carry  them.  Abra- 
ham and  his  fellow  in  the  fight  were  both  injured,  but  not  disabled.  Not 
being  armed,  and  unwilling  to  wait  until  the  negroes  had  received  rein- 
forcements, they  cut  adrift,  and  floated  down  a  mile  or  two,  tied  up  to  the 
bank  again,  and  watched  and  waited  for  the  morning. 

The  trip  was  brought  at  length  to  a  successful  end.  The  cargo, 
"load,"  as  they  called  it,  was  all  disposed  of  for  money,  the  boat  itself  sold 
for  lumber,  and  the  young  men  retraced  the  passage,  partly,  at  least,  on 
shore  and  on  foot,  occupying  several  weeks  in  the  difficult  and  tedious 
journey. 

"Goo  KNOWS  WHEN." 

It  is  perhaps  unknown  to  the  majority  of  our  readers  that  there  was 
a  time  when  Abraham  Lincoln  spelled  God  with  a  little  "g."  It  is  no 
reflection  upon  the  Great  Emancipator,  for  he  was  very  young  at  that 
period. 

Jn  an  ancient  copy-book,  in  which  Lincoln  wrote  many  things,  that 
upon  the  fly-leaf  was  written : 


418  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

"Abraham  Lincoln 
Holds  the  pen. 
He  will  be  good,  but 
god  knows  when." 

In  after  life  Lincoln  often  laughed  over  this.  "I  didn't  know  any 
better,"  he  said. 

No  VICES,  No  VIRTUES. 

Riding  at  one  time  in  the  stage,  with  an  old  Kentuckian  who  was  re- 
turning from  Missouri,  Lincoln  excited  the  old  gentleman's  surprise  by 
refusing  to  accept  either  of  tobacco  or  French  brandy. 

When  they  separated  that  afternoon,  the  Kentuckian  to  take  another 
stage  bound  for  Louisville,  he  shook  hands  warmly  with  Lincoln,  and  said 
good-humoredly,  "See  here,  stranger,  you're  a  clever  but  strange  com- 
panion. I  may  never  see  you  again,  and  I  don't  want  to  offend  you,  but  I 
want  to  say  this :  My  experience  has  taught  me  that  a  man  who  has  no 
vices  has  d d  few  virtues.  Good-day." 

Lincoln  enjoyed  this  reminiscence  of  his  journey,  and  took  great 
pleasure  in  relating  it. 

GAINS  THE  SOBRIQUET  OF  "HONEST  ABE/' 

During  the  year  that  Lincoln  was  in  Denton  Offutt's  store,  that  gen- 
tleman, whose  business  was  somewhat  widely  and  unwisely  spread  about 
the  country,  ceased  to  prosper  in  his  finances,  and  finally  failed.  The  store 
was  shut  up,  the  mill  was  closed,  and  Abraham  Lincoln  was  out  of  busi- 
ness. The  year  had  been  one  of  great  advance,  in  many  respects. 

He  had  made  new  and  valuable  acquaintances,  read  many  books, 
mastered  the  grammar  of  his  own  tongue,  won  multitudes  of  friends,  and 
became  ready  for  a  step  still  further  in  advance.  Those  who  could  ap- 
preciate brains  respected  him,  and  those  whose  ideas  of  a  man  related  to 
his  muscles  were  devoted  to  him.  It  was  while  he  was  performing  the 
work  of  the  store  that  he  acquired  the  sobriquet  "Honest  Abe" — a  char- 
acterization that  he  never  dishonored,  and  an  abbreviation  that  he  never 
outgrew. 

He  was  judge,  arbitrator,  referee,  umpire,  authority,  in  all  disputes, 
games  and  matches  of  man-flesh,  horse-flesh,  a  pacificator  in  all  quarrels ; 
everybody's  friend ;  the  best-natured,  the  most  sensible,  the  best-informed, 
the  most  modest  and  unassuming,  the  kindest,  gentlest,  roughest,  strong- 
est, best  fellow  in  all  New  Salem  and  the  region  round  about. 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  419 

WOULD  NOT  ASK  GOD'S  PROTECTION. 

When  Lincoln  was  working  for  the  nomination  for  the  Legislature 
the  second  time,  he  was  on  a  certain  occasion  pitted  against  one  George 
Forquer,  who  had  been  a  leading  Whig,  but  was  now  a  "Whole  Hog  Jack- 
son Man,"  and  his  reward  was  a  good  office. 

Forquer  devoted  himself  to  taking  down  the  young  man  from  New 
Salem.  He  ridiculed  his  dress,  manners  and  rough  personal  appearance, 
and  with  much  pomposity  derided  him  as  an  uncouth  youngster.  Lincoln 
had  noticed,  on  coming  into  Springfield,  Forquer's  fine  house,  on  which 
was  a  lightning  rod,  then  a  great  novelty  in  those  parts. 

Lincoln,  on  rising  to  reply,  stood  for  a  moment  with  flashing  eyes, 
and  pale  cheeks,  betraying  his  inward  but  unspoken  wrath.  He  began  by 
discussing  very  briefly  this  ungenerous  attack. 

He  said:  "I  am  not  so  young  in  years  as  I  am  in  the  tricks  of  the 
trade  of  the  politician;  but,  live  long,  or  die  young,  I  would  rather  die 
now,  than,  like  that  gentleman,  change  my  politics,  and  with  the  change 
receive  an  office  worth  three  thousand  dollars  a  year,  and  then  feel  obliged 
to  erect  a  lightning  rod  over  my  house  to  protect  my  guilty  conscience 
from  an  offended  God." 

The  effect  upon  the  simple  audience,  gathered  there  in  the  open  air, 
was  electrical. 

"I  AM  A  BLOATED  ARISTOCRAT/' 

At  another  time,  Lincoln  replied  to  Col.  Richard  Taylor,  a  self-con- 
ceited, dandified  man  who  wore  a  gold  chain  and  ruffled  shirt.  His  party 
at  that  time  were  posing  as  the  hardworking,  bone  and  sinew  of  the  land, 
while  the  Whigs  were  stigmatized  as  aristocrats,  ruffled-shirt  gentry. 

Taylor  making  a  sweeping  gesture,  his  overcoat  became  torn  open, 
displaying  his  finery.  Lincoln  in  reply  said,  laying  his  hand  on  his  jeans- 
clad  breast :  "Here  is  your  aristocrat,  one  of  your  silk-stocking  gentry,  at 
your  service." 

Then,  spreading  out  his  hands,  bronzed  and  gaunt  with  toil :  "Here 
is  your  rag-basin  with  lily-white  hands.  Yes,  I  suppose,  according  to  my 
friend  Taylor,  I  am  a  bloated  aristocrat." 

"ABE"  AS  A  COUNTRY  STOREKEEPER. 

Lincom  could  not  rest  for  an  instant  under  the  consciousness  that  he 
had,  even  unwittingly,  defrauded  anybody.  On  one  occasion,  while  clerk- 
ing in  Offutt's  store,  at  New  Salem,  111.,  he  sold  a  woman  a  little  bale  of 


420  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

goods,  amounting  in  value  by  the  reckoning  to  two  dollars  and  twenty 
cents.  He  received  the  money,  and  the  woman  went  away.  On  adding 
the  items  of  the  bill  again  to  make  himself  sure  of  correctness,  he  found 
that  he  had  taken  six  and  a  quarter  cents  too  much. 

It  was  night,  and,  closing  and  locking  the  store,  he  started  out  on  foot, 
a  distance  of  two  or  three  miles,  for  the  house  of  his  defrauded  customer, 
and,  delivering  over  to  her  the  sum  whose  possession  had  so  much  troubled 
him,  went  home  satisfied. 

On  another  occasion,  just  as  he  was  closing  the  store  for  the  night,  a 
woman  entered,  and  asked  for  a  half  pound  of  tea.  The  tea  was  weighed 
out  and  paid  for,  and  the  store  was  left  for  the  night.  The  next  morning 
Lincoln  entered  to  begin  the  duties  of  the  day,  when  he  discovered  a  four- 
ounce  weight  on  the  scales. 

He  saw  at  once  that  he  had  made  a  mistake,  and,  shutting  the  store, 
he  took  a  long  walk  before  breakfast  to  deliver  the  remainder  of  the  tea. 
These  are  very  humble  incidents,  but  they  illustrate  the  man's  perfect 
conscientiousness — his  sensitive  honesty — better,  perhaps,  than  they  would 
if  they  were  of  greater  moment. 

PAID  EVERY  DOLLAR  HE  OWED. 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  appointed  postmaster  by  President  Jackson.  The 
office  was  too  insignificant  to  be  considered  politically,  and  it  was  given 
to  the  young  man  because  everybody  liked  him,  and  because  he  was  the 
only  man  who  was  willing  to  take  it  who  could  make  out  the  returns. 

He  was  exceedingly  pleased  with  the  appointment,  because  it  gave  him 
a  chance  to  read  every  newspaper  that  was  taken  in  the  vicinity.  He  had 
never  been  able  to  get  half  the  newspapers  he  wanted  before,  and  the  office 
gave  him  the  prospect  of  a  constant  feast.  Not  wishing  to  be  tied  to  the 
office,  as  it  yielded  him  no  revenue  that  would  reward  him  for  the  confine- 
ment, he  made  a  postoffice  of  his  hat.  Whenever  he  went  out  the  letters 
were  placed  in  his  hat. 

When  an  anxious  looker  for  a  letter  found  the  postmaster,  he  had 
found  his  office ;  and  the  public  officer,  taking  off  his  hat,  looked  over  his 
mail  wherever  the  public  might  find  him.  He  kept  the  office  until  it  was 
discontinued,  or  removed  to  Petersburg. 

One  of  the  most  beautiful  exhibitions  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  rigid  honesty 
occurred  in  connection  with  the  settlement  of  his  accounts  with  the  Post- 
.office  Department,  several  years  afterward. 

It  was  after  he  had  become  a  lawyer,  and  had  been  a  legislator.  He 
had  passed  through  a  period  of  great  poverty,  had  acquired  his  education 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  421 

in  the  law  in  the  midst  of  many  perplexities,  inconveniences,  and  hard- 
ships, and  had  met  with  temptations  such  as  few  men  could  resist,  to  make 
a  temporary  use  of  any  money  he  might  have  in  his  hands. 

One  day,  seated  in  the  law  office  of  his  partner,  the  agent  of  the  Post- 
office  Department  entered,  and  inquired  if  Abraham  Lincoln  was  within. 
Mr.  Lincoln  responded  to  his  name,  and  was  informed  that  the  agent  had 
called  to  collect  the  balance  due  the  Department  since  the  discontinuance 
of  the  New  Salem  office.  A  shade  of  perplexity  passed  over  Mr.  Lincoln's 
face,  which  did  not  escape  the  notice  of  friends  present.  One  of  them 
said  at  once : 

"Lincoln,  if  you  are  in  want  of  money,  let  us  help  you." 
He  made  no  reply,  but  suddenly  rose,  and  pulled  out  from  a  pile  of 
books  a  little  old  trunk,  and,  returning  to  the  table,  asked  the  agent  how 
much  the  amount  of  his  debt  was.  The  sum  was  named,  and  then  Mr. 
Lincoln  opened  the  trunk,  pulled  out  a  little  package  of  coin  wrapped  in  a 
cotton  rag,  and  counted  out  the  exact  sum,  amounting  to  something  more 
than  seventeen  dollars.  After  the  agent  had  left  the  room,  he  remarked 
quietly  that  he  had  never  used  any  man's  money  but  his  own.  Although 
this  sum  had  been  in  his  hands  during  all  these  years,  he  had  never  re- 
garded it  as  available,  even  for  any  temporary  use  of  his  own. 

CAPTAIN  IN  THE  BLACK  HAWK  WAR. 

In  the  threatening  aspect  of  the  Black  Hawk  War,  Governor  Reynolds 
issued  a  call  for  volunteers,  and  among  the  companies  that  immediately 
responded  was  one  from  Menard  County,  Illinois.  Many  of  the  volun- 
teers were  from  New  Salem  and  Clary's  Grove,  and  Lincoln,  being  out  of 
business,  was  first  to  enlist.  The  company  being  full,  they  held  a  meeting 
at  Richland  for  the  election  of  officers.  Lincoln  had  won  many  hearts, 
and  they  told  him  that  he  must  be  their  captain.  It  was  an  office  that  he 
did  not  aspire  to,  and  one  for  which  he  felt  that  he  had  no  special  fitness ; 
but  he  consented  to  be  a  candidate.  There  was  but  one  other  candidate 
for  the  office  (a  Mr.  Kirkpatrick),  and  he  was  one  of  the  most  influential 
men  of  the  county.  Previously,  Kirkpatrick  had  been  an  employer  of 
Lincoln,  and  was  so  overbearing  in  his  treatment  of  the  young  man  that  the 
latter  left  him. 

The  simple  mode  of  their  electing  their  captain,  adopted  by  the  com- 
pany, was  by  placing  the  candidates  apart,  and  telling  the  men  to  go  and 
stand  with  the  one  they  preferred.  Lincoln  and  his  competitor  took  their 
positions,  and  then  the  word  was  given.  At  least  three  out  of  every  four 
went  to  Lincoln  at  once.  When  it  was  seen  by  those  who  had  arranged 


422  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

themselves  with  the  other  candidate  that  Lincoln  was  the  choice  of  the 
majority  of  the  company,  they  left  their  places,  one  by  one,  and  came  over 
to  the  successful  side,  until  Lincoln's  opponent  in  the  friendly  strife  was 
left  standing  almost  alone. 

"I  felt  badly  to  see  him  cut  so,"  says  a  witness  of  the  scene. 

Here  was  an  opportunity  for  revenge.  The  humble  laborer  was  his 
employer's  captain,  but  the  opportunity  was  never  improved.  Mr.  Lincoln 
frequently  confessed  that  no  subsequent  success  of  his  life  had  given  him 
half  the  satisfaction  that  this  election  did. 

He  had  achieved  public  recognition ;  and  to  one  so  humbly  bred,  the 
distinction  was  inexpressibly  delightful. 

SOUVENIR  OF  LINCOLN'S  PATENT. 

Lincoln  had  enough  mechanical  genius  to  make  him  a  good  mechanic. 
With  such  rude  tools  as  were  at  his  command  he  had  made  cabins  and  flat- 
boats  ;  and  after  his  mind  had  become  absorbed  in  public  and  professional 
affairs,  he  often  recurred  to  his  mechanical  dreams  for  amusement.  One 
of  his  dreams  took  form,  and  he  endeavored  to  make  a  practical  matter 
of  it. 

He  had  had  experience  in  the  early  navigation  of  the  Western  rivers. 
One  of  the  most  serious  hindrances  to  this  navigation  was  low  water,  and 
the  lodgment  of  the  various  craft  on  the  shifting  shoals  and  bars  with 
which  these  rivers  abound.  He  undertook  to  contrive  an  apparatus  which, 
folded  to  the  hull  of  the  boat  like  a  bellows,  might  be  inflated  on  occasions, 
and,  by  its  levity,  lifted  over  any  obstruction  upon  which  it  might  rest. 

On  this  contrivance,  illustrated  by  a  model  whittled  out  by  himself, 
and  now  preserved  in  the  Patent  Office  in  Washington,  he  secured  letters 
patent ;  but  it  is  certain  that  the  navigation  of  the  Western  rivers  was  not 
revolutionized  by  it. 

LINCOLN  A  MAN  OF  RESOURCE. 

Governor  Richard  Yates  (the  first),  of  Illinois,  in  a  speech  at  Spring- 
field, quoted  one  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  early  friends — W.  T.  Green — as  having 
said  that  the  first  time  he  ever  saw  Mr.  Lincoln,  he  was  in  the  Sangamon 
River  with  his  trousers  rolled  up  five  feet,  more  or  less,  trying  to  pilot  a 
flatboat  over  a  mill-dam. 

The  boat  was  so  full  of  water  that  it  was  hard  to  manage.  Lincoln 
got  the  prow  over,  and  then,  instead  of  waiting  to  bail  the  water  out,  bored 
a  hole  through  the  projecting  part  and  let  it  run  out;  affording  forcible  il- 


St.  Ga. \iderv  s  Statue  of  Lincoln 

(In  Lincoln  Park,  Chicago) 


The  Secret  Burial  of  John  Wilkes  Booth 


£ 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  427 

lustration  of  the  ready  ingenuity  of  the  future  President  in  the  quick  in- 
vention of  moral  expedients. 

"FETCHED  A  GOOD  MANY  SHORT  ONES." 

"The  first  time  I  ever  remember  seeing  Abe  Lincoln,"  is  the  testimony 
of  one  of  his  neighbors,  "was  when  I  was  a  small  boy  and  had  gone  with 
my  father  to  attend  some  kind  of  an  election.  One  of  the  neighbors, 
James  Larkins,  was  there.  Larkins  was  a  great  hand  to  brag  on  any- 
thing he  owned.  This  time  it  was  his  horse.  He  stepped  up  before  Abe, 
who  was  in  a  crowd,  and  commenced  talking  to  him,  boasting  all  the 
while  of  his  animal. 

"  'I  have  got  the  best  horse  in  the  country/  he  shouted  to  his  young 
listener.  'I  ran  him  nine  miles  in  exactly  three  minutes,  and  he  never 
fetched  a  long  breath.' 

"  'I  presume/  said  Abe,  rather  dryly,  'he  fetched  a  good  many  short 
ones,  though.' " 

JUSTICE  FOR  EVEN  POOR  Lo. 

One  day,  during  the  Black  Hawk  War,  an  old  Indian  strayed  into  the 
camp  of  Lincoln's  company.  The  men  wanted  to  kill  him,  considering 
him  a  spy. 

A  letter  from  General  Lewis  Cass,  recommending  him,  for  his  past 
kind  and  faithful  service  to  the  whites,  the  trembling  old  savage  drew 
from  beneath  the  folds  of  his  blanket ;  but  failed  in  any  degree  to  appease 
the  wrath  of  the  men  who  confronted  him.  "Make  an  example  of  him," 
they  exclaimed ;  "the  letter  is  a  forgery,  and  he  is  a  spy." 

They  might  have  put  their  threats  into  execution  had  not  the  tall  form 
of  Captain  Lincoln,  his  face  swarthy  with  resolution  and  rage,  interposed 
itself  between  them  and  their  defenseless  victim. 

The  Indian  left  the  camp  unharmed. 

LINCOLN'S  "DUEL"  WITH  GENERAL  SHIELDS. 

General  James  Shields  was  Auditor  of  the  State  of  Illinois  in  1839. 
While  he  occupied  this  important  office  he  was  involved  in  an  "affair  of 
honor"  with  no  less  a  personage  than  Abraham  Lincoln.  At  this  time 
Shields  was  the  pride  of  the  young  Democracy,  and  was  considered  a 
dashing  fellow  by  all,  the  ladies  included. 

In  the  summer  of  1842,  the  Springfield  (111.)  Journal  contained  some 
letters  from  the  "Lost  Township,"  by  a  contributor  whose  nom  de  plume 
was  "Aunt  Becca,"  which  held  up  the  gallant  young  Auditor  as  "a  ball- 


428  A  B  R  A  H  AM    LI  N  COL  AT. 

room  dandy,  floatin'  about  on  the  earth  without  heft  or  substance,  just  like 
a  lot  of  cat  fur  where  cats  had  been  fightin'." 

These  letters  caused  intense  excitement  in  the  towrv  Nobody  knew 
or  guessed  their  authorship.  Shields  swore  it  would  be  coffee  and  pistols 
for  two  if  he  should  find  out  who  had  been  lampooning  him  so  unmerci- 
fully. Thereupon  "Aunt  Becca"  wrote  another  letter,  which  made  the 
furnace  of  his  wrath  seven  times  hotter  than  before,  in  which  she  made  a 
very  humble  apology,  and  offered  to  let  him  squeeze  her  hand  for  satisfac- 
tion, adding: 

"If  this  should  not  answer,  there  is  one  thing  more  I  would  rather  do 
than  get  a  lickin'.  I  have  all  along  expected  to  die  a  widow ;  but,  as  Mr. 
Shields  is  rather  good-looking  than  otherwise,  I  must  say  I  don't  care  if 
we  compromise  the  matter  by — really,  Mr.  Printer,  I  can't  help  blushing — 
but  I  must  come  out — I — but  widowed  modesty — well,  if  I  must,  I  must — 
wouldn't  he — maybe  sorter  let  the  old  grudge  drap  if  I  was  to  consent  to 
be — be — his  wife?  I  know  he  is  a  fightin'  man,  and  would  rather  fight 
than  eat ;  but  isn't  marryin'  better  than  fightin',  though  it  does  sometimes 
run  into  it  ? 

"And  I  don't  think,  upon  the  whole,  I'd  be  sich  a  bad  match  neither ; 
I'm  not  over  sixty,  and  am  just  four  feet  three  in  my  bare  feet,  and  not 
much  more  around  the  girth ;  and  for  color,  I  wouldn't  turn  my  back  to 
nary  a  girl  in  the  Lost  Townships.  But,  after  all,  maybe  I'm  counting  my. 
chickens  before  they're  hatched,  and  dreamin'  of  matrimonial  bliss  when 
the  only  alternative  reserved  for  me  may  be  a  lickin'.  Jeff  tells  me  the 
way  these  fire-eaters  do  is  to  give  the  challenged  party  the  choice  of  weap- 
ons, which  being  the  case,  I  tell  you  in  confidence,  I  never  fight  with 
anything  but  broomsticks  or  hot  water,  or  a  shovelful  of  coals,  or  some 
such  thing ;  the  former  of  which,  being  somewhat  like  a  shillelah,  may  not 
be  so  very  objectionable  to  him.  I  will  give  him  a  choice,  however,  in 
one  thing,  and  that  is  whether,  when  we  fight,  I  shall  wear  breeches  or  he 
petticoats,  for  I  presume  this  change  is  sufficient  to  place  us  on  an 
equality." 

Of  course,  some  one  had  to  shoulder  the  responsibility  of  these  letters 
after  such  a  shot.  The  real  author  (it  was  claimed)  was  none  other  than 
Miss  Mary  Todd,  afterward  the  wife  of  Lincoln,  to  whom  she  was  en- 
gaged, and  he  was  in  honor  bound  to  assume,  for  belligerent  purposes,  the 
responsibility  of  her  sharp  pen-thrusts.  Lincoln  accepted  the  situation, 
the  principals  met,  but  there  was  no  duel.  Lincoln  had  selected  broad- 
swords, and  this  made  the  whole  affair  so  ridiculous  that  Shields  was  glad 
to  drop  it. 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  429 

LINCOLN  ALWAYS  DOUBTED  THIS  STORY. 

In  the  year  1855  or  1856,  George  B.  Lincoln,  Esq.,  of  Brooklyn,  was 
traveling  through  the  West  in  connection  with  a  large  New  York  dry- 
goods  establishment.  He  found  himself  one  night  in  a  town  on  the  Illi- 
nois River,  by  the  name  of  Naples.  The  only  tavern  of  the  place  had  evi- 
dently been  constructed  with  reference  to  business  on  a  small  scale.  Poor 
as  the  prospect  seemed,  Mr.  Lincoln  had  no  alternative  but  to  put  up  at  the 
place. 

The  supper  room  was  also  used  as  a  lodging  room.  Mr.  Lincoln  told 
his  host  that  he  thought  he  would  "go  to  bed." 

"Bed !"  echoed  the  landlord.  "There  is  no  bed  for  you  in  this  house 
unless  you  sleep  with  that  man  yonder.  He  has  the  only  one  we  have  to 
spare." 

"Well,"  returned  Mr.  Lincoln,  "the  gentleman  has  possession,  and 
perhaps  would  not  like  a  bed-fellow." 

Upon  this  a  grizzly  head  appeared  out  of  the  pillows,  and  said : 

"What  is  your  name  ?" 

"They  call  me  Lincoln  at  home,"  was  the  reply. 

"Lincoln!"  repeated  the  stranger;  "any  connection  of  our  Illinois 
Abraham  ?" 

"No,"  replied  Mr.  Lincoln.     "I  fear  not." 

"Well,"  said  the  old  gentleman,  "I  will  let  any  man  by  the  name  of 
'Lincoln'  sleep  with  me,  just  for  the  sake  of  the  name.  You  have  heard 
of  Abe  ?"  he  inquired. 

"Oh,  yes,  very  often,"  replied  Mr.  Lincoln.  "No  man  could  travel 
far  in  this  State  without  hearing  of  him,  and  I  would  be  very  glad  to 
claim  connection  if  I  could  do  so  honestly." 

"Well,"  said  the  old  gentleman,  "my  name  is  Simmons.  'Abe'  and  I 
used  to  live  and  work  together  when  young  men.  Many  a  job  of  wood- 
cutting and  rail-splitting  have  I  done  up  with  him.  Abe  Lincoln  was  the 
likeliest  boy  in  God's  world.  He  would  work  all  day  as  hard  as  any  of 
us — and  study  by  firelight  in  the  log-house  half  the  night ;  and  in  this  way 
he  made  himself  a  thorough,  practical  surveyor.  Once,  during  those  days, 
I  was  in  the  upper  part  of  the  State,  and  I  met  General  Ewing,  whom 
President  Jackson  had  sent  to  the  Northwest  to  make  surveys.  I  told  him 
about  Abe  Lincoln,  what  a  student  he  was,  and  that  I  wanted  he  should 
give  me  a  job.  He  looked  over  his  memorandum,  and,  holding  out  a 
paper,  said : 

"  'There  is County  must  be  surveyed ;  if  your  friend  can  do 


430  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

the  work  properly,  I  shall  be  glad  to  have  him  undertake  it — the  compen- 
sation will  be  six  hundred  dollars.' 

"Pleased  as  I  could  be,  I  hastened  to  Abe,  after  I  got  home,  with  an 
account  of  what  I  had  secured  for  him.  He  was  sitting  before  the  fire  in 
the  log-cabin  when  I  told  him ;  and  what  do  you  think  was  his  answer  ? 
When  I  finished,  he  looked  up  very  quietly,  and  said : 

"  'Mr.  Simmons,  I  thank  you  very  sincerely  for  your  kindness,  but  I 
don't  think  I  will  undertake  the  job.' 

"  'In  the  name  of  wonder,'  said  I,  'why?  Six  hundred  does  not  grow 
upon  every  bush  out  here  in  Illinois.' 

"  I  know  that,'  said  Abe,  'and  I  need  the  mpney  bad  enough,  Simmons, 
as  you  know;  but  I  have  never  been  under  obligation  to  a  Democratic 
Administration,  and  I  never  intend  to  be  so  long  as  I  can  get  my  living 
another  way.  General  Ewing  must  find  another  man  to  do  his  work.'  " 

Mr.  Carpenter  related  this  story  to  the  President  one  day,  and  asked 
him  if  it  were  true. 

"Pollard  Simmons !"  said  Lincoln.  "Well  do  I  remember  him.  It  is 
correct  about  our  working  together,  but  the  old  man  must  have  stretched 
the  facts  somewhat  about  the  survey  of  the  County.  I  think  I  should  have 
been  very  glad  of  the  job  at  the  time,  no  matter  what  Administration  was 
in  power." 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

LINCOLN  ON  THE  CIRCUIT  AS  A  LAWYER — DETERMINED  TO  SUCCEED  IN 
His  PROFESSION — His  KINDNESS  TO  His  STEPMOTHER — His  SENSE 
OF  JUSTICE  IN  CONDUCTING  His  LAW  CASES — GETS  THE  WORST  OF  IT 
IN  A  HORSE  TRADE — ONE  OF  His  DISAPPOINTMENTS — How  "ABE" 
WAS  NOMINATED  FOR  CONGRESS — His  TRUST  IN  GOD. 


Lincoln  was  beset  by  every  conceivable  difficulty  when  studying  law. 
He  was  laughed  at  and  ridiculed.  It  was  said  that  it  was  quite  as  well 
to  make  a  lawyer  out  of  the  stump  of  a  tree.  But  Lincoln  did  not  care. 
He  knew  what  he  was  about  and  he  pursued  his  way  without  disturbing 
himself  in  regard  to  what  was  said  about  him. 

He  borrowed  books  and  read  them  when  he  should  have  been  asleep 
in  his  bed.  He  snatched  the  time  for  study  from  his  waking  hours,  and 
made  a  lawyer  of  himself  in  spite  of  the  opposition  of  those  who  predicted 
that  time  spent  in  study  was  time  wasted. 

That  Lincoln's  attempt  to  make  a  lawyer  of  himself  under  the  adverse 
and  unpromising  circumstances  excited  comment  is  not  to  be  wondered  at. 

Russell  Goodby,  an  old  man  who  still  survives,  told  the  following: 
He  had  often  employed  Lincoln  to  do  farm  work  for  him,  and  was  sur- 
prised to  find  him  one  day,  sitting  barefoot  on  the  summit  of  a  woodpile, 
and  attentively  reading  a  book. 

"This  being  an  unusual  thing  for  farm  hands  at  that  early  date  to  do, 
I  asked  him,"  relates  Goodby,  "what  he  was  reading. 

"He  answered,  'I'm  studying.' 

"  'Studying  what  ?'  I  inquired. 

"  'Law,  sir/  was  the  emphatic  response.  It  was  realty  too  much  for 
me,  as  I  looked  at  him  sitting  there  proud  as  Cicero." 

LINCOLN'S  KINDNESS  TO  His  STEPMOTHER. 

Soon  after  Lincoln  entered  upon  his  profession  at  Springfield,  he  was 
engaged  in  a  criminal  case  in  which  it  was  thought  there  was  little  chance 
of  success.  Throwing  all  his  powers  into  it,  he  came  off  victorious,  and 
promptly  received  for  his  services  five  hundred  dollars.  A  legal  friend 
calling  upon  him  the  next  morning  found  him  sitting  before  a  table,  upon 
which  his  money  was  spread  out,  counting  it  over  and  over. 

431 


4.32 


ABRAHA  M    LIN  COL  N. 


"Look  here,  Judge,"  said  he.  "See  what  a  heap  of  money  I've  got 
from  the  Black  case.  Did  you  ever  see  anything  like  it?  Why,  I  never 
had  so  much  money  in  my  life  before,  put  it  all  together."  Then,  crossing 
his  arms  upon  the  table,  his  manner  sobering  down,  he  added :  "I  have  got 
just  five  hundred  dollars;  if  it  were  only  seven  hundred  and  fifty,  I  would 
go  directly  and  purchase  a  quarter  section  of  land,  and  settle  it  upon  my 
old  step-mother." 

His  friend  said  that  if  the  deficiency  was  all  he  needed,  he  would  loan 
him  the  amount,  taking  his  note,  to  which  Mr.  Lincoln  instantly  acceded. 

His  friend  then  said : 

"Lincoln,  I  would  not  do  just  what  you  have  indicated.  Your  step- 
mother is  getting  old,  and  will  not  probably  live  many  years.  I  would 
settle  the  property  upon  her  for  her  use  during  her  lifetime,  to  revert  to 
you  upon  her  death." 

With  much  feeling,  Mr.  Lincoln  replied: 

"I  shall  do  no  such  thing.  It  is  a  poor  return  at  best  for  all  the  good 
woman's  devotion  and  fidelity  to  me,  and  there  is  not  going  to  be  any  half- 
way business  about  it."  And  so  saying,  he  gathered  up  his  money  and 
proceeded  forthwith  to  carry  his  long-cherished  purpose  into  execution. 

A  DISTINCTION  WITH  A  DIFFERENCE. 

Lincoln  had  assisted  in  the  prosecution  of  a  man  who  had  appropriated 
some  of  his  neighbor's  hen  roosts.  Jogging  home  along  the  highway 
with  the  foreman  of  the  jury,  who  had  convicted  the  hen  stealer,  he  was 
complimented  by  Lincoln  on  the  zeal  and  ability  of  the  prosecution,  and 
remarked :  "Why,  when  the  country  was  young,  and  I  was  stronger  than 
I  am  now,  I  didn't  mind  packing  off  a  sheep  now  and  then,  but  stealing 
hens !" 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  AS  A  LAWYER. 

Two  things  were  essential  to  his  success  in  managing  a  case.  One 
was  time ;  the  other  was  a  feeling  of  confidence  in  the  justice  of  the  cause 
he  represented. 

He  used  to  say :  "If  I  can  free  this  case  from  technicalities  and  get  it 
properly  swung  to  the  jury,  I'll  win  it."  Wrhen  asked  why  he  went  so  far 
back,  on  a  certain  occasion,  in  legal  history,  when  he  should  have  presumed 
that  the  court  knew  enough  history,  he  replied :  "There's  where  you  are 
mistaken.  I  dared  not  trust  the  case  on  the  presumption  that  the  court 
knew  anything ;  in  fact,  I  argued  it  on  the  presumption  that  the  court  did 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  433 

not  know  anything."  A  statement  that  may  not  be  as  extravagant  as  one 
would  at  first  suppose. 

When  told  by  a  friend  that  he  should  speak  with  more  vim,  and  arouse 
the  jury,  talk  faster  and  keep  them  awake,  he  replied:  "Give  me  your  little 
penknife  with  its  short  blade,  and  hand  me  that  old  jackknife,  lying  on  the 
table."  Opening  the  blade  of  the  penknife  he  said :  "You  see  this  blade  on 
the  point  travels  rapidly,  but  only  through  a  small  portion  of  space  till  it 
stops,  while  the  long  blade  of  the  jackknife  moves  no  faster  but  through  a 
much  greater  space  than  the  small  one.  Just  so  with  the  long-labored 
movements  of  the  mind.  I  cannot  emit  ideas  as  rapidly  as  others  because 
I  am  compelled  by  nature  to  speak  slowly,  but  when  I  do  throw  off  a 
thought  it  comes  with  some  effort,  it  has  force  to  cut  its  own  way  and 
travels  a  greater  distance."  The  above  was  said  to  his  partner  in  their 
private  office,  and  was  not  said  boastingly. 

When  Lincoln  attacked  meanness,  fraud  or  vice,  he  was  powerful, 
merciless  in  his  castigation. 

The  following  are  Lincoln's  notes  for  the  argument  of  a  case  where 
an  attempt  was  being  made  to  defraud  a  soldier's  widow,  with  her  little 
babe,  of  her  pension : 

"No  contract, — Not  professional  services, — Unreasonable  charge, — 
Money  retained  by  Def.,  not  given  by  Pl'ff, — Revolutionary  War, — De- 
scribe Valley  Forge  privations, — Ice, — Soldiers'  Bleeding  Feet, — Pl'ff 
husband, — Soldier  leaving  home  for  Army, — Skin  Deft, — Close." 

Judgment  was  made  in  her  behalf,  and  no  charges  made. 

The  following  reply  was  overheard  in  Lincoln's  office,  where  he  was 
in  conversation  with  a  man  who  appeared  to  have  a  case  that  Lincoln  did 
not  desire:  "Yes,"  he  said,  "we  can  doubtless  gain  your  case  for  you; 
we  can  set  a  whole  neighborhood  at  loggerheads ;  we  can  distress  a 
widowed  mother  and  her  six  fatherless  children,  and  thereby  get  for  you 
six  hundred  dollars  to  which  you  seem  to  have  a  legal  claim,  but  which 
rightfully  belongs,  it  appears  to  me,  as  much  to  the  woman  and  children 
as  it  does  to  you.  You  must  remember  that  some  things  legally  right  are 
not  morally  right.  We  shall  not  take  your  case." 

MRS.  LINCOLN  SURPRISED  HER  HUSBAND. 

A  funny  story  is  told  of  how  Mrs.  Lincoln  made  a  little  surprise  for 
her  husband. 

In  the  early  days  it  was  customary  for  lawyers  to  go  from  one  county 
to  another  on  horseback,  a  journey  which  often  required  several  weeks. 
On  returning  from  one  of  these  jaunts,  late  one  night,  Mr.  Lincoln  dis- 


434  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

mounted  from  his  horse  at  the  familiar  corner  and  then  turned  to  go  into 
the  house,  but  stopped;  a  perfectly  unknown  structure  was  before  him. 
Surprised,  and  thinking  there  must  be  some  mistake,  he  went  across  the 
way  and  knocked  at  a  neighbor's  door.  The  family  had  retired,  and  so 
called  out: 

"Who's  there?" 

"Abe  Lincoln,"  was  the  reply.  "I  am  looking  for  my  house.  I 
thought  it  was  across  the  way,  but  when  I  went  away  a  few  weeks  ago, 
there  was  only  a  one-story  house  there,  and  now  there  is  two.  I  think  I 
must  be  lost." 

The  neighbors  then  explained  that  Mrs.  Lincoln  had  added  another 
story  during  his  absence.  And  Mr.  Lincoln  laughed  and  went  to  his 
remodeled  house. 

A  HORSE  TRADE  IN  WHICH  LINCOLN  GOT  THE  WORST  OF  IT. 

Abraham  Lincoln  and  a  certain  judge  once  got  to  bantering  one  an- 
other about  trading  horses;  and  it  was  agreed  that  the  next  morning  at 
nine  o'clock  they  should  make  a  trade,  the  horses  to  be  unseen  up  to  that 
hour,  and  no  backing  out,  under  a  forfeiture  of  $25. 

At  the  hour  appointed,  the  Judge  came  up,  leading  the  sorriest-looking 
specimen  of  a  horse  ever  seen  in  those  parts.  In  a  few  minutes  Mr.  Lin- 
coln was  seen  approaching  with  a  wooden  saw-horse  upon  his  shoulders. 
Great  were  the  shouts  and  laughter  of  the  crowd,  and  both  were  greatly 
increased  when  Mr.  Lincoln,  on  surveying  the  Judge's  animal,  set  down 
his  saw-horse,  and  exclaimed :  "Well,  Judge,  this  is  the  first  time  I  ever 
got  the  worst  of  it  in  a  horse  trade." 

CONSIDERATIONS  SHOWN  TO  RELATIVES. 

One  of  the  most  beautiful  traits  of  Lincoln  was  his  considerate  regard 
f6Y  the  poor  and  obscure  relatives  he  had  left,  plodding  along  in  their 
humble  ways  of  life.  Wherever  upon  his  circuit  he  found  them,  he  always 
went  to  their  dwellings,  ate  with  them,  and,  when  convenient,  made  their 
houses  his  home.  He  never  assumed  in  their  presence  the  slightest  su- 
periority to  them,  in  the  facts  and  conditions  of  his  life.  He  gave  them 
money  when  they  needed  and  he  possessed  it.  Countless  times  he  was 
known  to  leave  his  companions  at  the  village  hotel,  after  a  hard  day's 
work  in. the  courtroom,  and  spend  the  evening  with  these  old  friends  and 
companions  of  his  humbler  days.  On  one  occasion,  when  urged  not  to 
go,  he  replied,  "Why,  Aunt's  heart  would  be  broken  if  I  should  leave  town 
without  calling  upon  her" ;  yet,  he  was  obliged  to  walk  several  miles  to 
make  the  call. 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  435 

ONE  OF  LINCOLN'S  DISAPPOINTMENTS. 

At  the  time  of  Lincoln's  first  nomination  for  the  Presidency,  Newton 
Bateman,  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  for  the  State  of  Illinois, 
occupied  a  room  adjoining  and  opening  into  the  Executive  Chamber  at 
Springfield.  Frequently  this  door  was  open  during  Lincoln's  receptions, 
and  throughout  the  seven  months  or  more  of  his  occupation,  he  saw  him 
nearly  every  day. 

Often,  when  Mr.  Lincoln  was  tired,  he  closed  the  door  against  all  in- 
truders and  called  Mr.  Bateman  into  his  room  for  a  quiet  talk.  On  one  of 
these  occasions,  Mr.  Lincoln  took  up  a  book  containing  canvass  of  the 
city  of  Springfield,  in  which  he  lived,  showing  the  candidate  for  whom 
each  citizen  had  declared  it  his  intention  to  vote  in  the  approaching  elec- 
tion. 

Lincoln's  friends  had,  doubtless  at  his  own  request,  placed  the  result 
of  the  canvass  in  his  hands.  This  was  towards  the  close  of  October,  and 
only  a  few  days  before  election.  Calling  Mr.  Bateman  to  a  seat  by  his 
side,  having  previously  locked  all  the  doors,  he  said : 

"Let  us  look  over  this  book ;  I  wish  particularly  to  see  how  the  min- 
isters of  Springfield  are  going  to  vote." 

The  leaves  were  turned,  one  by  one,  and  as  the  names  were  examined 
Mr.  Lincoln  frequently  asked  if  this  one  and  that  one  was  not  a  minister, 
or  an  elder,  or  a  member  of  such  and  such  a  church,  and  sadly  expressed 
his  surprise  on  receiving  an  affirmative  answer.  In  that  manner  he  went 
through  the  book,  and  then  he  closed  it,  and  sat  silently  for  some  minutes 
regarding  a  memorandum  in  pencil  which  lay  before  him.  At  length  he 
turned  to  Mr.  Bateman,  with  a  face  full  of  sadness,  and  said : 

"Here  are  twenty-three  ministers  of  different  denominations,  and  all 
of  them  are  against  me  but  three,  and  here  are  a  great  many  prominent 
members  of  churches,  a  very  large  majority  are  against  me.  Mr.  Bate- 
man, I  am  not  a  Christian — God  knows  I  would  be  one — but  I  have  care- 
fully read  the  Bible,  and  I  do  not  so  understand  this  book,"  and  he  drew 
forth  a  pocket  New  Testament. 

"These  men  well  know,"  he  continued,  "that  I  am  for  freedom  in  the 
Territories,  freedom  everywhere,  as  free  as  the  Constitution  and  laws  will 
permit,  and  that  my  opponents  are  for  slavery.  They  know  this,  and  yet, 
with  this  book  in  their  hands,  in  the  light  of  which  human  bondage  cannot 
live  a  moment,  they  are  going  to  vote  against  me ;  I  do  not  understand  it  at 
all." 

Here  Lincoln  paused — paused  for  long  minutes,  his  features  sur- 


436  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

charged  with  emotion.  Then  he  rose  and  walked  up  and  down  the  recep- 
tion-room in  the  effort  to  retain  or  regain  his  self-possession.  Stopping 
at  last,  he  said,  with  a  trembling  voice  and  cheeks  wet  with  tears : 

"I  know  there  is  a  God,  and  that  He  hates  injustice  and  slavery.  I 
see  the  storm  coming,  and  I  know  that  His  hand  is  in  it.  If  He  has  a 
place  and  work  for  me,  and  I  think  He  has,  I  believe  I  am  ready.  I  am 
nothing,  but  Truth  is  everything.  I  know  I  am  right,  because  I  know 
that  liberty  is  right,  for  Christ  teaches  it,  and  Christ  is  God.  I  have  told 
them  that  a  house  divided  against  itself  cannot  stand;  and  Christ  and 
Reason  say  the  same ;  and  they  will  find  it  so. 

"Douglass  don't  care  whether  slavery  is  voted  up  or  down,  but  God 
cares,  and  humanity  cares,  and  I  care;  and  with  God's  help  I  shall  not  fail. 
I  may  not  see  the  end ;  but  it  will  come,  and  I  shall  be  vindicated ;  and  these 
men  will  find  they  have  not  read  their  Bible  right." 

Much  of  this  was  uttered  as  if  he  were  speaking  co  himself,  and  with 
a  sad,  earnest  solemnity  of  manner  impossible  to  be  described.  After  a 
pause  he  resumed : 

"Doesn't  it  seem  strange  that  men  can  ignore  the  moral  aspect  of  this 
contest?  No  revelation  could  make  it  plainer  to  me  that  slavery  or  the 
Government  must  be  destroyed.  The  future  would  be  something  awful, 
as  I  look  at  it,  but  for  this  rock  on  which  I  stand"  (alluding  to  the  Testa- 
ment which  he  still  held  in  his  hand),  "especially  with  the  knowledge 
of  how  these  ministers  are  going  to  vote.  It  seems  as  if  God  had  borne 
with  this  thing  (slavery)  until  the  teachers  of  religion  have  come  to  de- 
fend it  from  the  Bible,  and  to  claim  for  it  a  divine  character  and  sanction ; 
and  now  the  cup  of  iniquity  is  full,  and  the  vials  of  wrath  will  be  poured 
out." 

Everything  he  said  was  of  a  peculiarly  deep,  tender,  and  religious 
tone,  and  all  was  tinged  with  a  touching  melancholy.  He  repeatedly  re- 
ferred to  his  conviction  that  the  day  of  wrath  was  at  hand,  and  that  he 
was  to  be  an  actor  in  the  terrible  struggle  which  would  issue  in  the  over- 
throw of  slavery,  although  he  might  not  live  to  see  the  end. 

After  further  reference  to  a  belief  in  the  Divine  Providence  and  the 
fact  of  God  in  history,  the  conversation  turned  upon  prayer.  He  freely 
stated  his  belief  in  the  duty,  privilege,  and  efficacy  of  prayer,  and  intimated, 
in  no  unmistakable  terms,  that  he  had  sought  in  that  way  Divine  guidance 
and  favor.  The  effect  of  this  conversation  upon  the  mind  of  Mr.  Bate- 
man,  a  Christian  gentleman  whom  Mr.  Lincoln  profoundly  respected,  was 
to  convince  him  that  Mr.  Lincoln  had,  in  a  quiet  way,  found  a  path  to  the 
Christian  standpoint — that  he  had  found  God,  and  rested  on  the  eternal 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  437 

truth  of  God.     As  the  two  men  were  about  to  separate,  Mr.  Bateman  re- 
marked : 

"I  have  not  supposed  that  you  were  accustomed  to  think  so  much  upon 
this  class  of  subjects;  certainly  your  friends  generally  are  ignorant  of  the 
sentiments  you  have  expressed  to  me." 

He  replied  quickly :  "I  know  they  are,  but  I  think  more  on  these  sub- 
jects than  upon  all  others,  and  I  have  done  so  for  years ;  and  I  am  willing 
you  should  know"  it." 

AN  INCIDENT  OF  LINCOLN'S  HOME  LIFE. 

A  woman  relative  who  lived  for  two  years  with  the  Lincolns,  told  me 
that  Mr.  Lincoln  was  in  the  habit  of  lying  on  the  floor  with  the  back  of  a 
chair  for  a  pillow  when  he  read. 

One  evening,  when  in  this  position  in  the  hall,  a  knock  was  heard  at 
the  front  door,  and,  although  in  his  shirt  sleeves,  he  answered  the  call. 
Two  ladies  were  at  the  door,  whom  he  invited  into  the  parlor,  notifying 
them  in  his  open,  familiar  way,  that  he  would  "trot  the  women  folks  out." 

Mrs.  Lincoln,  from  an  adjoining  room,  witnessed  the  ladies'  entrance 
and,  overhearing  her  husband's  jocose  expression,  her  indignation  was  so 
instantaneous  she  made  the  situation  exceedingly  interesting  for  him,  and 
he  was  glad  to  retreat  from  the  mansion.  He  did  not  return  till  very  late 
at  night,  and  then  slipped  quietly  in  at  a  rear  door. 

How  "ABE"  WAS  NOMINATED  FOR  CONGRESS. 

When  Lincoln  was  an  aspirant  for  Congressional  honors  the  chief 
interest  of  the  campaign  lay  in  the  race  between  Hardin — fiery,  eloquent, 
and  impetuous  Democrat — and  Lincoln — plain,  practical,  and  ennobled 
Whig.  The  world  knows  the  result.  Lincoln  was  elected. 

It  is  not  so  much  his  election  as  the  manner  in  which  he  secured  his 
nomination  with  which  we  have  to  deal.  Before  that  ever-memorable 
Spring,  Lincoln  vacillated  between  the  courts  of  Springfield,  rated  as  a 
plain,  honest,  logical  Whig,  with  no  ambition  higher  politically  than  to 
occupy  some  good  home  office.  Late  in  the  Fall  of  1842  his  name  began 
to  be  mentioned  in  connection  with  Congressional  aspirations,  which  fact 
greatly  annoyed  the  leaders  of  his  political  party,  who  had  already  selected 
as  the  Whig  candidate  one  Baker,  afterward  the  gallant  Colonel  who  fell 
so  bravely  and  died  such  an  honorable  death  on  the  battlefield  of  Ball's 
Bluff  in  1862. 

Despite  all  efforts  of  his  opponents  within  his  party,  the  name  of  the 
"gaunt  rail-splitter"  was  hailed  with  acclaim  by  the  masses,  to  whom  he 
had  endeared  himself  by  his  witticisms,  honest  tongue,  and  quaint  philoso- 
phy when  on  the  stump,  or  mingling  with  them  in  their  homes. 


438  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

The  convention,  which  met  in  early  Spring,  in  the  city  of  Springfield, 
was  to  be  composed  of  the  usual  number  of  delegates.  The  contest  for 
the  nomination  was  spirited  and  exciting. 

A  few  weeks  before  the  meeting  of  the  convention  the  fact  was  found 
by  the  leaders  that  the  advantage  lay  with  Lincoln,  and  that  unless  they 
pulled  some  very  fine  wires  nothing  could  save  Baker. 

They  attempted  to  play  the  game  that  has  so  often  won,  by  "convinc- 
ing" delegates  under  instructions  for  Lincoln,  to  violate  them,  and  vote  for 
Baker.  They  had  apparently  succeeded. 

"The  plans  of  mice  and  men  aft  gang  aglee."  So  it  was  in  this  case. 
Two  days  before  the  convention,  Lincoln  received  an  intimation  of  this, 
and,  late  at  night,  indited  the  following  letter. 

The  letter  was  addressed  to  Martin  Morris,  who  resided  at  Petersburg, 
an  intimate  friend  of  his,  and  by  him  circulated  among  those  who  were 
instructed  for  him  at  the  county  convention. 

It  had  the  desired  effect.  The  convention  met,  the  scheme  of  the 
conspirators  miscarried,  Lincoln  was  nominated,  made  a  vigorous  canvass, 
and  was  triumphantly  elected,  thus  paving  the  way  for  his  more  extended 
and  brilliant  conquests. 

This  letter,  Lincoln  had  often  told  his  friends,  gave  him  ultimately  the 
Chief  Magistracy  of  the  Nation.  He  has  also  said,  that,  had  he  been 
beaten  before  the  convention  he  would  have  been  forever  obscured.  The 
following  is  a  verbatim  copy  of  the  epistle : 

"April  14,   1843. 

"FRIEND  MORRIS:  I  have  heard  it  intimated  that  Baker  is  trying  to 
get  you  or  Miles,  or  both  of  you,  to  violate  the  instructions  of  the  meeting 
that  appointed  you,  and  to  go  for  him.  I  have  insisted,  and  still  insist,  that 
this  cannot  be  true. 

"Sure  Baker  would  not  do  the  like.  As  well  might  Hardin  ask  me 
to  vote  for  him  in  the  convention. 

"Again,  it  is  said  there  will  be  an  attempt  to  get  instructions  in  your 
county  requiring  you  to  go  for  Baker.  This  is  all  wrong.  Upon  the 
same  rule,  why  might  I  not  fly  from  the  decision  against  me  at  Sangamon 
and  get  up  instructions  to  their  delegates  to  go  for  me.  There  are  at  least 
1,200  Whigs  in  the  county  that  took  no  part,  and  yet  I  would  as  soon  stick 
my  head  in  the  fire  as  attempt  it. 

"Besides,  if  any  one  should  get  the  nomination  by  such  extraordinary 
means,  all  harmony  in  the  district  would  inevitably  be  lost.  Honest  Whigs 
(and  very  nearly  all  of  them  are  honest)  would  not  quietly  abide  such 
enormities. 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  439 

"I  repeat,  such  an  attempt  on  Baker's  part  cannot  be  true.  Write  me 
at  Springfield  how  the  matter  is.  Don't  show  or  speak  of  this  letter. 

"A.  LINCOLN/' 

Morris  did  show  the  letter,  and  Lincoln  always  thanked  his  stars  that 
he  did.  LINCOLN'S  KNOWLEDGE  OF  HUMAN  NATURE. 

Once,  pleading  a  cause,  the  opposing  lawyer  had  all  the  advantage  of 
tke  law  in  the  case ;  the  weather  was  warm,,  and  his  opponent,  as  was  ad- 
missible in  frontier  courts,  pulled  off  his  coat  and  vest  as  he  grew  warm  in 
the  argument. 

At  that  time,  shirts  with  the  buttons,  behind  were  unusual.  Lincoln 
took  in  the  situation  at  once.  Knowing  the  prejudices  of  the  primitive 
people  against  pretension  of  all  sorts,  or  any  affectation  of  superior  social 
rank,  arising,  he  said:  "Gentlemen  of  the  jury,  having  justice  on  my  side, 
I  don't  think  you  will  be  at  all  influenced  by  the  gentleman's  pretended 
knowledge  of  the  law,  when  you  see  he  does  not  even  know  which  side  of 
his  shirt  should  be  in  front."  There  was  a  general  laugh,  and  Lincoln's 
case  was  won. 

LINCOLN  DEFENDS  A  WOMAN  PENSIONER. 

A  woman  70  years  old,  the  widow  of  a  Revolution  pensioner,  told 
Lincoln  that  a  pension  agent  had  charged  her  a  fee  of  $200  for  collecting 
her  claim.  Lincoln  was  satisfied  by  her  representations  that  she  had  been 
swindled,  and,  finding  that  she  was  not  a  resident  of  the  town,  and  that 
she  was  poor,  gave  her  money,  and  set  about  the  work  of  procuring  restitu- 
tion. He  immediately  entered  suit  against  the  agent  to  recover  a  portion 
of  his  ill-gotten  money.  The  suit  was  entirely  successful,  and  Mr.  Lin- 
coln's address  to  the  jury,  before  which  the  case  was  tried,  is  remembered 
to  have  been  peculiarly  touching,  by  allusions  to  the  poverty  of  the 
widow,  and  the  patriotism  of  the  husband  she  had  sacrificed  to  secure  the 
Nation's  independence.  He  had  the  gratification  of  paying  back  to  her 
$100,  and  sent  her  home  rejoicing. 

"WOULD  LIKE  TO  HAVE  IT  NICE." 

Leonard  Volk,  the  artist,  relates  that,  being  in  Springfield  when  the 
nomination  was  announced,  he  called  upon  Mr.  Lincoln,  whom  he  found 
looking  radiant.  "I  exclaimed,  'I  am  the  first  man  from  Chicago,  I  be- 
lieve, who  has  had  the  honor  of  congratulating  you  on  your  nomination  for 
President.'  Then  those  two  great  hands  took  both  of  mine  with  a  grasp 
never  to  be  forgotten,  and  while  shaking,  I  said,  'Now  that  you  will  doubt- 
less be  the  next  President  of  the  United  States,  I  want  to  make  a  statue  of 
you,  and  shall  try  my  best  to  do  you  justice.' 


440  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

"Said  he,  'I  don't  doubt  it,  for  I  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  you 
are  an  honest  man,'  and  with  that  greeting,  I  thought  my  hands  in  a  fair 
way  of  being  crushed. 

"On  the  Sunday  following,  by  agreement,  I  called  to  make  a  cast  of 
Mr.  Lincoln's  hands.  I  asked  him  to  hold  something  in  his  hands,  and 
told  him  a  stick  would  do.  Thereupon  he  went  to  the  woodshed,  and  I 
heard  the  saw  go,  and  he  soon  returned  to  the  dining-room,  whittling  off 
the  end  of  a  piece  of  broom  handle.  I  remarked  to  him  that  he  need  not 
whittle  off  the  edges.  'Oh,  well/  said  he,  'I  thought  I  would  like  to  have 
it  nice.'  " 

LINCOLN'S  VISION  IN  1860. 

Lincoln,  after  hearing  of  his  nomination  at  Chicago  for  the  Presi- 
dency, returned  home,  and,  feeling  somewhat  weary,  went  upstairs  to  his 
wife's  sitting-room,  and  lay  down  upon  a  couch  in  the  room  directly  oppo- 
site a  bureau,  upon  which  was  a  looking-glass. 

"As  I  reclined,"  said  he,  "my  eye  fell  upon  the  glass,  and  I  saw  dis- 
tinctly two  images  of  myself,  exactly  alike,  except  that  one  was  a  little 
paler  than  the  other.  I  arose  and  lay  down  again  with  the  same  result. 
It  made  me  quite  uncomfortable  for  a  few  minutes,  but,  some  friends  com- 
ing in,  the  matter  passed  out  of  my  mind.  The  next  day,  while  walking 
in  the  street,  I  was  suddenly  reminded  of  the  circumstance,  and  the  dis- 
agreeable sensation  produced  by  it  returned.  I  had  never  seen  anything 
of  the  kind  before,  and  did  not  know  what  to  make  of  it. 

"I  determined  to  go  home  and  place  myself  in  the  same  position,  and, 
if  the  same  effect  was  produced,  I  would  make  up  my  mind  that  it  was  the 
natural  result  of  some  principle  of  refraction  or  optics,  which  I  did  not 
understand,  and  dismiss  it.  I  tried  the  experiment,  with  the  same  result ; 
and,  as  I  had  said  to  myself,  accounted  for  it  on  some  principle  unknown 
to  me,  and  it  then  ceased  to  trouble  me.  But  the  God  who  works  through 
the  laws  of  Nature,  might  surely  give  a  sign  to  me,  if  one  of  His  chosen 
servants,  even  through  the  operation  of  a  principle  in  optics." 

Lincoln  remarked  to  Noah  Brooks,  one  of  his  most  intimate  personal 
friends :  "I  should  be  the  most  presumptuous  blockhead  upon  this  footstool 
if  I  for  one  day  thought  that  I  could  discharge  the  duties  which  have  come 
upon  me,  since  I  came  to  this  place,  without  the  aid  and  enlightenment  of 
One  who  is  stronger  and  wiser  than  all  others."  He  said  on  another  oc- 
casion :  "I  am  very  sure  that  if  I  do  not  go  away  from  here  a  wiser  man, 
I  shall  go  away  a  better  man,  from  having  learned  here  what  a  very  poor 
sort  of  a  man  I  am." 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

LINCOLN  AS  THE  CHIEF  MAGISTRATE  OF  THE  NATION — His  ENEMIES 
BRAND  HIM  AS  A  COWARD — His  SUBSEQUENT  CAREER  SHOWS  HIM 
THE  BRAVEST  AND  MOST  FEARLESS  AMONG  ALL  THE  MEN  WHO  HELD 
THE  DESTINY  OF  THE  REPUBLIC  IN  THEIR  HANDS — DISDAINFUL  OF 
THE  THREATS  OF  ASSASSINATION  HE  PURSUES  His  WAY  IN  CALM- 
NESS AND  HEROIC  FORTITUDE. 


Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the  United  States,  was  obliged  to 
enter  Washington  as  a  thief  in  the  night,  and  his  enemies  rejoiced  for  the 
reason  that  they  deemed  him  a  physical  and  a  moral  coward.  How  far 
they  were  wrong  in  their  estimate  of  him  time  was  to  show.  Never  a  more 
courageous  man  than  Abraham  Lincoln  was  ever  born.  Surrounded  on 
all  sides  by  enemies  he  was  calm  and  collected. 

When  he  delivered  his  inaugural  address  there  was  no  quaver  in  his 
voice.  He  knew  that  he  was  in  the  Valley  of  the  Shadow  of  Death,  and 
yet  he  did  not  falter.  At  any  moment  an  assassin,  safely  hidden  in  secur- 
ity, might  have  taken  his  life,  and  yet  he  was  not  alarmed.  He  was 
buoyed  up  by  his  sense  of  duty  and  the  responsibility  devolved  upon  him. 

General  John  A.  Logan  and  Mr.  Lovejoy,  of  Illinois,  called  upon  Mr. 
Lincoln  at  Willard's  Hotel,  Washington,  February  23,  the  morning  of  his 
arrival,  and  urged  a  vigorous,  firm  policy. 

Patiently  listening,  the  President  replied  seriously  but  cheerfully, 
"As  the  country  has  placed  me  at  the  helm  of  the  ship,  I'll  try  to  steer  her 
through." 

Soon  after  Mr.  Lincoln  began  his  administration,  a  distinguished 
South  Carolina  lady,  the  widow  of  a  Northern  scholar,  called  upon  him 
out  of  curiosity. 

She  was  very  proud  and  aristocratic,  and  was  anxious  to  see  this 
monstrosity,  as  he  had  been  represented.  Upon  being  presented  she  hissed 
in  the  President's  ear :  "I  am  a  South  Carolinian." 

The  President,  taking  in  the  situation,  was  at  once  courteous  and  dig- 
nified. 

After  a  pleasant  conversation,  she  said :  "Why,  Mr.  Lincoln,  you  look, 
act, 'and  speak  like  a  kind,  good-hearted,  generous  man."  "And  did  you 

441 


442  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

expect  to  meet  a  savage?"  said  he.  "Certainly  I  did,  or  even  something 
worse.  I  am  glad  I  have  met  you,  and  now  the  best  way  to  preserve 
peace  is  for  you  to  go  to  Charleston,  and  show  the  people  what  you  are, 
and  tell  the  people  you  have  no  intention  of  injuring  them."  The  lady 
attended  the  first  levee  after  the  inauguration. 

LINCOLN'S  UNCONVENTIONALITY  IN  THE  WHITE  HOUSE. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  habits  at  the  White  House  were  as  simple  as  they  were 
at  his  old  home  in  Illinois.  He  never  alluded  to  himself  as  "President," 
or  as  occupying  "the  Presidency."  His  office  he  always  designated  as 
"the  place." 

"Call  me  Lincoln,"  said  he  to  a  friend ;  "Mr.  President"  had  become 
so  very  tiresome  to  him. 

"If  you  see  a  newsboy  down  the  street,  send  him  up  this  way,"  said 
he  to  a  passenger,  as  he  stood  waiting  for  the  morning  news  at  his  gate. 

Friends  cautioned  him  about  exposing  himself  so  openly  in  the  midst 
of  enemies ;  but  he  never  heeded  them.  He  frequently  walked  the  streets 
at  night,  entirely  unprotected ;  and  felt  any  check  upon  his  movements  a 
great  annoyance. 

He  delighted  to  see  his  familiar  Western  friends ;  and  he  gave  them 
always  a  cordial  welcome.  He  met  them  on  the  old  footing,  and  fell  at 
once  into  the  accustomed  habits  of  talk  and  story-telling. 

An  old  acquaintance,  with  his  wife,  visited  Washington.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Lincoln  proposed  to  these  friends  a  ride  in  the  Presidential  carriage. 
It  should  be  stated  in  advance  that  the  two  men  had  probably  never  seen 
each  other  with  gloves  on  in  their  lives,  unless  when  they  were  used  as 
protection  from  the  cold. 

The  question  of  each — Mr.  Lincoln  at  the  White  House,  and  his 
friend  at  the  hotel — was,  whether  he  should  wear  gloves.  Of  course  the 
ladies  urged  gloves ;  but  Mr.  Lincoln  only  put  his  in  his  pocket,  to  be  used 
or  not,  according  to  the  circumstances. 

When  the  Presidential  party  arrived  at  the  hotel,  to  take  in  their 
friends,  they  found  the  gentleman,  overcome  by  his  wife's  persuasions, 
very  handsomely  gloved.  The  moment  he  took  his  seat  he  began  to  draw 
off  the  clinging  kids,  while  Mr.  Lincoln  began  to  draw  his  on ! 

"No!  no!  no!"  protested  his  friend,  tugging  at  his  gloves.  "It  is 
none  of  my  doings ;  put  up  your  gloves,  Mr.  Lincoln." 

So  the  two  old  friends  were  on  even  and  easy  terms,  and  had  their 
ride  after  their  old  fashion. 

An  amusing,  yet  touching,  instance  of  the  President's  preoccupation 


The  Execution  of  Booth's  Accomplices 


Samuel  AtzerotK 
One  of  Booth's  Accomplices 


The  Assassination  of  Abraham  Lincoln — Escape  of  Booth,  the  Assassin 


John  Wilkes  Booth.  President  Lincoln's  Assassin 


ABRA.HAM    LINCOLN.  443 

of  mind  occurred  at  one  of  his  levees  when  he  was  shaking  hands  with  a 
host  of  visitors  passing  him  in  a  continuous  stream.  An  intimate  acquaint- 
ance received  the  usual  conventional  handshake  and  salutation,  but  per- 
ceiving that  he  was  not  recognized,  kept  his  ground  instead  of  moving  on, 
and  spoke  again ;  when  the  President,  roused  to  a  dim  consciousness  that 
something  unusual  had  happened,  perceived  who  stood  before  him,  and, 
seizing  his  friend's  hand,  shook  it  again  heartily,  saying : 

"How  do  you  do?  How  do  you  do?  Excuse  me  for  not  noticing 
you.  I  was  thinking  of  a  man  down  South." 

He  afterwards  privately  acknowledged  that  the  "man  down  South" 
was  Sherman,  then  on  his  march  to  the  sea. 

STANTON  WAS  A  VALUABLE  MAN. 

Dennis  Hanks  was  once  asked  to  visit  Washington  to  secure  the 
pardon  of  certain  persons  in  jail  for  participation  in  copperheadism.  Den- 
nis went  and  arrived  in  Washington,  and  instead  of  going,  as  he  said,  to  a 
"tavern,"  he  went  to  the  White  House.  There  was  a  porter  on  guard,  and 
he  asked : 

"Is  Abe  in?" 

"Do  you  mean  Mr.  Lincoln  ?"  asked  the  porter. 

"Yes ;  is  he  in  there  ?"  and  brushing  the  porter  aside  he  strode  into 
the  room  and  said,  "Hello,  Abe ;  how  are  you  ?" 

And  Abe  said,  "Well!"  and  just  gathered  him  up  in  his  arms  and 
talked  of  the  days  gone  by. 

Oh,  the  days  gone  by !  They  talked  of  their  boyhood  days,  and  by  and 
by  Lincoln  said : 

"What  brings  you  here  all  the  way  from  Illinois  ?" 

And  then  Dennfs  told  him  his  mission,  and  Lincoln  replied : 

"I  will  grant  it,  Dennis,  for  old-times'  sake.  I  will  send  for  Mr. 
Stanton.  It  is  his  business." 

Stanton  came  into  the  room,  and  strolled  up  and  down,  and  said  that 
the  men  ought  to  be  punished  more  than  they  were.  Mr.  Lincoln  sat 
quietly  in  his  chair  and  waited  for  the  tempest  to  subside,  and  then  quietly 
said  to  Stanton  he  would  like  to  have  the  papers  next  day. 

When  he  had  gone  Dennis  said : 

"Abe,  if  I  was  as  big  and  as  ugly  as  you  are,  I  would  take  him  over 
my  knee  and  spank  him." 

Lincoln  replied:  "No,  Stanton  is  an  able  and  valuable  man  for  this 
nation,  and  I  am  glad  to  bear  his  anger  for  the  service  he  can  give  this 
nation." 


444  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

ANYTHING  BUT  A  BED  OF  ROSES. 

An  old  and  intimate  friend  from  Springfield  called  on  the  President 
and  found  him  much  depressed. 

The  President  was  reclining  on  a  sofa,  but  rising  suddenly,  he  said 
to  his  friend : 

"You  know  better  than  any  man  living  that  from  my  boyhood  up 
my  ambition  was  to  be  President.  I  am  President  of  one  part  of  this 
divided  country  at  least;  but  look  at  me!  Oh,  I  wish  I  had  never  been 
born !  I've  a  white  elephant  on  my  hands,  one  hard  to  manage.  With 
a  fire  in  my  front  and  rear  to  contend  with,  the  jealousies  of  military 
commanders,  and  not  receiving  the  cordial  co-operative  support  from 
Congress  that  could  reasonably  be  expected  with  .an  active  and  formidable 
enemy  in  the  field  threatening  the  very  life-blood  of  the  Government,  my 
position  is  anything  but  a  bed  of  roses." 

LINCOLN'S  STORY  ABOUT  His  HAIR. 

"By  the  way,"  said  Mr.  Lincoln  to  Colonel  Cannon,  "I  can  tell  you 
a  good  story  about  my  hair.  When  I  was  nominated  at  Chicago,  an 
enterprising  fellow  thought  that  a  great  many  people  would  like  to  see 
how  Abe  Lincoln  looked,  and,  as  I  had  not  long  before  sat  for  a  photo- 
graph, the  fellow,  having  seen  it,  rushed  over  and  bought  the  negative. 

"He  at  once  got  no  end  of  wood-cuts,  and  so  active  was  their  circu- 
lation they  were  soon  selling  in  all  parts  of  the  country. 

"Soon  after  they  reached  Springfield.  I  heard  a  boy  crying  them  for 
sale  on  the  streets.  'Here's  your  likeness  of  Abe  Lincoln!'  he  shouted. 
'Buy  one,  price  only  two  shillings !  Will  look  a  great  deal  better  when  he 
gets  his  hair  combed !'  " 

"On,  PA  !  HE'S  JUST  BEAUTIFUL  !" 

Lincoln's  great  love  for  children  easily  won  their  confidence. 

A  little  girl,  who  had  been  told  that  the  President  was  very  homely, 
was  taken  by  her  father  to  see  the  President  at  the  White  House. 

Lincoln  took  her  upon  his  knee  and  chatted  with  her  for  a  moment 
in  his  merry  way,  when , she  turned  to  her  father  and  exclaimed:  "Oh, 
Pa !  he  isn't  ugly  at  all ;  he's  just  beautiful !" 

LINCOLN'S  SIMPLICITY  IN  HOME  LIFE. 
Mr.  Jeriah  Bonham  describes  a  visit  that  he  paid  Mr.  Lincoln  at  his 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  445 

room  in  the  State  House,  where  he  found  him  quite  alone  except  that  two 
of  his  children,  one  of  whom  was  Tad,  were  with  him. 

The  door  was  open. 

We  walked  in  and  were  at  once  recognized  and  seated — the  two  boys 
still  continuing  their  play  about  the  room.  Tad  was  spinning  his  top ;  and 
Mr.  Lincoln,  as  we  entered,  had  just  finished  adjusting  the  string  for 
him  so  as  to  give  the  top  the  greatest  degree  of  force.  He  remarked  that 
he  was  having  a  little  fun  with  the  boys. 

At  another  time,  at  Lincoln's  residence,  Tad  came  into  the  room, 
and  putting  his  hand  to  his  mouth,  and  his  mouth  to  his  father's  ear,  said 
in  a  boy's  whisper,  "Ma  says  come  to  supper." 

All  heard  the  announcement,  and  Mr.  Lincoln,  perceiving  this,  said : 
"You  have  heard,  gentlemen,  the  announcement  concerning  the  interesting 
state  of  things  in  the  dining-room.  It  will  never  do  for  me,  if  elected, 
to  make  this  young  man  a  member  of  my  cabinet,  for  it  is  plain  he  cannot 
be  trusted  with  secrets  of  state." 

LINCOLN'S  GREAT  LOVE  FOR  LITTLE  "TAD." 

No  matter  who  was  with  the  President,  or  how  intently  absorbed,  his 
little  son  "Tad"  was  always  welcome.  He  almost  always  accompanied  his 
father.  Once,  on  the  way  to  Fortress  Monroe,  he  became  very  trouble- 
some. The  President  was  much  engaged  in  conversation  with  the  party 
who  accompanied  him,  and  he  at  length  said : 

"  Tad,'  if  you  will  be  a  good  boy,  and  not  disturb  me  any  more  until 
we  get  to  Fortress  Monroe,  I  will  give  you  -a  dollar." 

The  hope  of  reward  was  effectual  for  a  while  in  securing  silence,  but, 
boy-like,  "Tad"  soon  forgot  his  promise,  and  was  as  noisy  as  ever.  Upon 
reaching  their  destination,  however,  he  said,  very  promptly,  "Father,  I 
want  my  dollar." 

Mr.  Lincoln  looked  at  him  half-reproachfully  for  an  instant,  and 
then  taking  from  his  pocketbook  a  dollar  note,  he  said :  "Well,  my  son,  at 
any  rate,  I  will  keep  my  part  of  the  bargain." 

While  paying  a  visit  to  Commodore  Porter,  of  Fortress  Monroe,  on 
one  occasion,  an  incident  occurred,  subsequently  related  by  Lieutenant 
Braine,  one  of  the  officers  on  board  the  flag-ship,  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Ewer, 
of  New  York.  Noticing  that  the  banks  of  the  river  were  dotted  with 
spring  blossoms,  the  President  said,  with  the  manner  of  one  asking  a 
special  favor: 

"Commodore,  'Tad'  is  very  fond  of  flowers ;  won't  you  let  a  couple  of 


446  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

your  men  take  a  boat  and  go  with  him  for  an  hour  or  two  along  the 
shore,  and  gather  a  few  ?     It  will  be  a  great  gratification  to  him." 

DEATH  OF  LINCOLN'S  SON  WILLIE. 

In  February,  1862,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  visited  by  a  severe  affliction  in 
the  death  of  his  beautiful  son,  Willie,  and  the  extreme  illness  of  his  son 
Thomas,  familiarly  called  "Tad."  This  was  a  new  burden,  and  the  visi- 
tation which,  in  his  firm  faith  in  Providence,  he  regarded  as  providential, 
was  also  inexplicable.  A  Christian  lady  from  Massachusetts,  who  was 
officiating  as  nurse  in  one  of  the  hospitals  at  the  time,  came  to  attend 
the  sick  children.  She  reports  that  Mr.  Lincoln  watched  with  her  about 
the  bedside  of  the  sick  ones,  and  that  he  often  walked  the  room,  saying 
sadly : 

"This  is  the  hardest  trial  of  my  life ;  why  is  it  ?    Why  is  it  ?" 

In  the  course  of  conversation  with  her,  he  questioned  her  concerning 
her  situation.  She  told  him  that  she  was  a  widow,  and  that  her  husband 
and  two  children  were  in  Heaven;  and  added  that  she  saw  the  hand  of 
God  in  it  all,  and  that  she  had  never  loved  him  so  much  before  as  she  had 
since  her  affliction. 

"How  is  that  brought  about  ?"  inquired  Mr.  Lincoln. 

"Simply  by  trusting  in  God  and  feeling  that  he  does  all  things  well," 
she  replied. 

"Did  you  submit  fully  under  the  first  loss  ?"  he  asked. 

"No,"  she  answered,  "not  wholly ;  but,  as  blow  came  upon  blow,  and 
all  were  taken,  I  could  and  did  submit,  and  was  very  happy." 

He  responded:  "I  am  glad  to  hear  you  say  that.  Your  experi- 
ence will  help  me  to  bear  my  affliction." 

"It  was  during  the  dark  days  of  1863,"  says  Schuyler  Colfax,  "on 
the  evening  of  a  public  reception  given  at  the  White  House.  The  foreign 
legations  were  there  gathered  about  the  President. 

"A  young  English  nobleman  was  just  being  presented  to  the  Presi- 
dent. Inside  the  door,  evidently  overawed  by  the  splendid  assemblage, 
was  an  honest-faced  old  farmer,  who  shrank  from  the  passing  crowd  until 
he  and  the  plain-faced  old  lady  clinging  to  his  arm  were  pressed  back  to 
the  wall. 

"The  President,  tall,  and,  in  a  measure,  stately  in  his  personal  pres- 
ence, looking  over  the  heads  of  the  assembly,  said  to  the  English  noble- 
man :  'Excuse  me,  my  Lord,  there's  an  old  friend  of  mine.' 

"Passing  backward  to  the  door,  Mr.  Lincoln  said,  as  he  grasped  the 
old  farmer's  hand : 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  447 

"  'Why,  John,  I'm  glad  to  see  you.  I  haven't  seen  you  since  you  and 

I  made  rails  for  old  Mrs.  ,  in  Sangamon  County,  in  1837.  How 

are  you  ?' 

"The  old  man  turned  to  his  wife  with  quivering  lip,  and  without  re- 
plying to  the  President's  salutation,  said : 

"  'Mother,  he's  just  the  same  old  Abe!' 

"  'Mr.  Lincoln,'  he  said  finally,  'you  know  we  had  three  boys ;  they 
all  enlisted  in  the  same  company;  John  was  killed  in  the  "seven-days' 
fight";  Sam  was  taken  prisoner  and  starved  to  death,  and  Henry  is  in 
the  hospital.  We  had  a  little  money,  an'  I  said,  "Mother,  we'll  go  to 
Washington  and  see  him.  An'  while  we  were  here,"  I  said,  "we'll  go  up 
and  see  the  President."  ' 

"Mr.  Lincoln's  eyes  grew  dim,  and  across  his  rugged,  homely,  tender 
face  swept  the  wave  of  sadness  his  friends  had  learned  to  know,  and  he 
said: 

"  'John,  we  all  hope  this  miserable  war  will  soon  be  over.  I  must  see 
all  these  folks  here  for  an  hour  or  so,  and  I  want  to  talk  with  you.'  The 
old  lady  and  her  husband  were  hustled  into  a  private  room,  in  spite  of  their 
protests." 

"TIME  LOST  DON'T  COUNT/' 

Mr.  Weed,  the  veteran  journalist  and  politician,  relates  how,  when 
he  was  opposing  the  claims  of  Montgomery  Blair,  who  aspired  to  a  Cab- 
inet appointment,  when  Mr.  Lincoln  inquired  of  Mr.  Weed  whom  he  would 
recommend,  "Henry  Winter  Davis,"  was  the  response.  "David  Davis, 
I  see,  has  been  posting  you  up  on  this  question,"  retorted  Lincoln.  "He 
has  Davis  on  the  brain.  I  think  Maryland  must  be  a  good  State  to  move 
from."  The  President  then  told  a  story  of  a  witness  in  court  in  a  neigh- 
boring county,  who,  on  being  asked  his  age,  replied,  "Sixty."  Being 
satisfied  he  was  much  older  the  question  was  repeated,  and  on  receiving 
the  same  answer  the  court  admonished  the  witness,  saying,  "The  court 
knows  you  to  be  much  older  than  sixty." 

"Oh,  I  understand  now,"  was  the  rejoinder,  "you're  thinking  of  those 
ten  years  I  spent  on  the  eastern  shore  of  Maryland;  that  was  so  much 
time  lost,  and  didn't  count." 

A  CABINET  RECONSTRUCTION  INCIDENT. 

The  President  had  decided  to  select  a  new  war  minister,  and  the 
leading  Republican  Senators  thought  the  occasion  was  opportune  to  change 
the  whole  seven  Cabinet  ministers.  They,  therefore,  earnestly  advised 


448  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

him  to  make  a  clean  sweep,  and  select  seven  new  men,  and  so  restore  the 
waning  confidence  of  the  country.  The  President  listened  with  patient 
courtesy,  and  when  the  Senators  had  concluded  he  said,  with  a  charac- 
teristic gleam  of  humor  in  his  eye : 

"Gentlemen,  your  request  for  a  change  of  the  whole  Cabinet  because 
I  have  made  one  change,  reminds  me  of  a  story  I  once  heard  in  Illinois, 
of  a  farmer  who  was  much  troubled  by  skunks.  His  wife  insisted  on  his 
trying  to  get  rid  of  them.  He  loaded  his  shotgun  one  moonlight  night 
and  awaited  developments.  After  some  time  the  wife  heard  the  shotgun 
go  off,  and,  in  a  few  minutes,  the  farmer  entered  the  house.  'What  luck 
have  you?'  said  she.  'I  hid  myself  behind  the  wood-pile,'  said  the  old 
man,  'with  the  shotgun  pointed  towards  the  hen  roost,  and  before  long 
there  appeared  not  one  skunk,  but  seven.  I  took  aim,  blazed  away,  killed 
one,  and  he  raised  such  a  fearful  smell  that  I  concluded  it  was  best  to  let 
the  other  six  go.'  " 

The  Senators  laughed  and  retired. 

WAS  ALL  RIGHT,  BUT  A  CHRONIC  SQUEALER. 

One  of  the  Northern  Governors  was  able,  earnest,  and  untiring  in 
aiding  the  administration,  but  always  complaining.  After  reading  all  his 
papers,  the  President  said,  in  a  cheerful  and  reassuring  tone : 

"Never  mind,  never  mind;  those  dispatches  don't  mean  anything. 
Just  go  right  ahead.  The  Governor  is  like  a  boy  I  saw  once  at  a  launch- 
ing. When  everything  was  ready,  they  picked  out  a  boy  and  sent  him 
under  the  ship  to  knock  away  the  trigger  and  let  her  go.  At  the  critical 
moment  everything  depended  on  the  boy.  He  had  to  do  the  job  well  by  a 
direct,  vigorous  blow,  and  then  lie  flat  and  keep  still  while  the  boat  slid 
over  him. 

"The  boy  did  everything  right,  but  he  yelled  as  if  he  were  being  mur- 
dered from  the  time  he  got  under  the  keel  until  he  got  out.  I  thought  the 
hide  was  all  scraped  off  his  back ;  but  he  wasn't  hurt  at  all. 

"The  master  of  the  yard  told  me  that  this  boy  was  always  chosen  for 
that  job,  that  he  did  his  work  well,  that  he  never  had  been  hurt,  but  that 
he  always  squealed 'in  that  way.  That's  just  the  way  with  Governor 

.  Make  up  your  mind  that  he  is  not  hurt,  and  that  he  is  doing  the 

work  right,  and  pay  no  attention  to  his  squealing.  He  only  wants  to  make 
you  understand  how  hard  his  task  is,  and  that  he  is  on  hand  performing  it." 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  449 

SAID  LINCOLN  WAS  A  D D  FOOL. 

Mr.  Lovejoy,  heading  a  committee  of  Western  men,  discussed  an 
important  scheme  with  the  President,  and  was  then  directed  to  explain  it 
to  Secretary  Stanton.  Upon  presenting  themselves  to  the  Secretary,  and 
showing  the  President's  order,  the  Secretary  said,  "Did  Lincoln  give  you 

an  order  of  that  kind  ?"     "He  did,  sir."     "Then  he  is  a  d d  fool,"  said 

the  angry  Secretary.     "Do  you  mean  to  say  that  the  President  is  a  d d 

fool  ?"  asked  Lovejoy,  in  amazement.     "Yes,  sir,  if  he  gave  you  such  an 
order  as  that." 

The  bewildered  Illinoisan  betook  himself  at  once  to  the  President  and 
related  the  result  of  the  conference. 

"Did  Stanton  say  I  was  a  d d  fool?"  asked  Lincoln,  at  the  close  of 

the  recital. 

"He  did,  sir,  and  repeated  it." 

After  a  moment's  pause,  and  looking  up,  the  President  said:  "If 

Stanton  said  I  was  a  d d  fool,  then  I  must  be  one,  for  he  is  nearly 

always  right,  and  generally  says  what  he  means.     I  will  slip  over  and  see 
him." 

ONE  MAN  JUST  AS  GOOD  AS  ANOTHER. 

Secretary  Chase,  when  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  had  a  disagree- 
ment, and  the  Secretary  had  resigned. 

The  President  was  urged  not  to  accept  it,  as  "Secretary  Chase  is 
today  a  national  necessity,"  his  advisers  said. 

"How  mistaken  you  are!"  he  quietly  observed.  "Yet  it  is  not 
strange ;  I  used  to  have  similar  notions.  No !  if  we  should  all  be  turned 
out  tomorrow,  and  could  come  back  here  in  a  week,  we  should  find  our 
places  filled  by  a  lot  of  fellows  doing  just  as  well  as  we  did,  and  in  many 
instances  better. 

"As  the  Irishman  said,  'In  this  country  one  man  is  as  good  as 
another ;  and,  for  the  matter  of  that,  very  often  a  great  deal  better.'  No ; 
this  Government  does  not  depend  upon  the  life  of  any  man." 

DID  ANNA  SEE  HIM  WINK? 

Noah  Brooks,  in  his  "Reminiscences,"  relates  the  following  incident : 

While  the  ceremonies  of  the  second  inauguration  were  in  progress, 

just  as  Lincoln  stepped  forward  to  take  the  oath  of  office,  the  sun,  which 

had  been  obscured  by  rain-clouds,  burst  in  splendor.     In  conversation  the 

next  day,  the  President  asked : 

"Did  you  notice  that  sun-burst?    It  made  my  heart  jump." 


450  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

Later  in  the  month,  Miss  Anna  Dickinson,  in  a  lecture  delivered  in 
the  hall  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  eloquently  alluded  to  the  sun- 
burst as  a  happy  omen.  The  President  sat  directly  in  front  of  the 
speaker,  and  from  the  reporters'  gallery,  behind  her,  I  had  caught  his  eye, 
soon  after  he  sat  down.  When  Miss  Dickinson  referred  to  the  sun-beam, 
he  looked  up  to  me,  involuntarily,  and  I  thought  his  eyes  were  suffused 
with  moisture.  Perhaps  they  were ;  but  the  next  day  he  said : 

"I  wonder  if  Miss  Dickinson  saw  me  wink  at  you  ?" 

"BUT  THEN— HERE  I  AM!" 

An  old  acquaintance  of  the  President  visited  him  in  Washington. 
Lincoln  desired  to  give  him  a  place.  Thus  encouraged,  the  visitor,  who 
was  an  honest  man,  but  wholly  inexperienced  in  public  affairs  or  business, 
asked  for  a  high  office,  Superintendent  of  the  Mint.  The  President  was 
aghast,  and  said :  "Good  gracious !  Why  didn't  he  ask  to  be  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury,  and  have  done  with  it?"  Afterwards,  he  said:  "Well, 

now,  I  never  thought  Mr. had  anything  more  than  average  ability, 

when  we  were  young  men  together.     But,  then,  I  suppose  he  thought  the 
same  thing  about  me,  and — here  I  am!" 

"AARON  GOT  His  COMMISSION,  You  KNOW/' 

President  Lincoln  was  censured  for  appointing  to  office  a  man  who 
had  zealously  opposed  his  second  term. 

He  replied:  "Well,  I  suppose  Judge  E.,  having  been  disappointed 
before,  did  behave  pretty  ugly,  but  that  wouldn't  make  him  any  less  fit 
for  the  place ;  and  I  think  I  have  Scriptural  authority  for  appointing  him. 

"You  remember  when  the  Lord  was  on  Mount  Sinai  getting  out  a 
commission  for  Aaron,  that  same  Aaron  was  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain 
making  a  false  god  for  the  people  to  worship.  Yet  Aaron  got  his  com- 
mission, you  know." 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

LINCOLN  DURING  THE  WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION — A  MAN  OF  SENTIMEN- 
TALITY AND  DEEP  FEELING — SATISFIED  WITH  THE  WAY  GENERAL 
GRANT  DID  THINGS — THE  DUTCH  GAP  CANAL — THE  PRESIDENT'S 
BELIEF  IN  THE  EFFICIENCY  OF  THE  MONITOR — His  ABSENCE  OF  FEAR 
REGARDING  ASSASSINATION. 


During  the  progress  of  the  War  of  the  Rebellion — 1861-65 — Presi- 
dent Lincoln,  as  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Army  and  Navy  of  the 
United  States,  was  in  active  control  of  affairs.  Yet  he  did  not  obnoxiously 
obtrude  with  his  authority,  although  in  instances  like  the  failure  of  Gen- 
eral McClellan  to  take  Richmond  when  he  was  within  twelve  miles  of  the 
Confederate  Capital  he  would  have  been  justified  in  interfering. 

When  General  Grant  came  upon  the  scene  it  was  different.  Grant 
was  a  man  who  knew  his  business,  and  his  commander  appreciated  the 
fact.  "I  like  this  man  Grant;  he  fights!"  said  Lincoln  to  those  who 
sought  the  removal  and  downfall  of  the  grim  and  silent  soldier  who  never 
lost  a  battle. 

Grant  was  everything  within  himself.  He  did  not  let  the  President 
nor  anyone  else  know  what  he  proposed  to  do,  but  Lincoln  was  not  dis- 
pleased because  of  this.  On  the  contrary,  he  was  contented  and  satis- 
fied. On  the  3Oth  of  April,  1864,  after  Grant  had  been  commissioned 
Lieutenant  General  and  Commander  of  all  the  Armies  of  the  Union,  the 
President  wrote  him  the  following  letter : 

"EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  Washington,  April  30,  1864. 
"Lieutenant  General  Grant : — 

"Not  expecting  to  see  you  before  the  spring  campaign  opens,  I  wish 
to  express  in  this  way  my  entire  satisfaction  with  what  you  have  done  up 
to  this  time,  so  far  as  I  understand  it. 

"The  particulars  of  your  plan  I  neither  know,  nor  seek  to  know.  You 
are  vigilant  and  self-reliant,  and,  pleased  with  this,  I  wish  not  to  obtrude 
any  restraints  or  constraints  upon  you. 

"While  I  am  very  anxious  that  any  great  disaster,  or  capture  of  our 
men  in  great  numbers,  shall  be  avoided,  I  know  that  these  points  are  less 
likely  to  escape  your  attention  than  they  would  be  mine. 

451 


452  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

"If  there  be  anything  wanting,  which  is  within  my  power  to  give,  do 
not  fail  to  let  me  know  it. 

"And  now,  with  a  brave  army  and  a  just  cause,  may  God  sustain  you. 

"Yours  very  truly, 

"ABRAHAM  LINCOLN." 
Grant  had  his  own  way  after  that. 

AFRAID  OF  THE  DUTCH  GAP  CANAL. 

The  President,  in  company  with  General  Grant,  was  inspecting  the 
Dutch  Gap  Canal  at  City  Point. 

His  opinion  of  the  success  of  the  enterprise  he  made  known  to  Gen- 
eral Grant  in  his  usual  manner. 

"Grant,  do  you  know  what  this  reminds  me  of  ?    Out  in  Springfield, 

111.,  there  was  a  blacksmith  named .     One  day,  not  having  much  to 

do,  he  took  a  piece  of  soft  iron,  and  attempted  to  weld  it  into  an  agri- 
cultural implement,  but  discovered  that  the  iron  would  not  hold  out ;  then 
he  concluded  it  would  make  a  claw  hammer;  but  having  too  much  iron 
attempted  to  make  an  ax,  but  decided  after  working  a  while  that  there  was 
not  enough  iron  left. 

"Finally,  becoming  disgusted,  he  filled  the  forge  full  of  coal  and 
brought  the  iron  to  a  white  heat ;  then  with  his  tongs  he  lifted  it  from  the 
bed  of  coals,  and  thrusting  it  into  a  tub  of  water  near  by,  exclaimed  with 
an  oath,  'Well,  if  I  can't  make  anything  else  of  you,  I  will  make  a  fizzle 
anyhow.' 

"I  was  afraid  that  was  about  what  we  had  done  with  the  Dutch  Gap 
Canal." 

NOT  SATISFIED  WITH  GENERAL  MCCLELLAN. 

President  Lincoln  was  not  satisfied  with  General  McClellan  as  a 
fighting  man. 

At  one  time  he  said : 

"General  McClellan  is  a  pleasant  and  scholarly  gentleman. 

"He  is  an  admirable  military  engineer,  but  he  seems  to  have  a  special 
talent  for  a  stationary  engine." 

The  President  had  no  fault  of  this  sort  to  find  with  General  Grant. 

THE  PRESIDENT  AND  THE  MONITOR. 

The  President  expressed  his  belief  in  the  Monitor,  to  Captain  Fox,  the 
adviser  of  Captain  Ericsson,  who  constructed  the  Monitor.  "I  am  not 
prepared  for  disastrous  results,  why  should  I  be  ?  We  have  three  of  the 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  453 

most  effective  vessels  in  Hampton  Roads,  and  any  number  of  small  craft 
that  will  hang  on  the  stern  of  the  Merrimac  like  small  dogs  on  the  haunches 
of  a  bear.  They  may  not  be  able  to  tear  her  down,  but  they  will  interfere 
with  the  comfort  of  her  voyage.  Her  trial  trip  will  not  be  a  pleasure  trip, 
I  am  certain. 

"We  have  had  a  big  share  of  bad  luck  already,  but  I  do  not  believe 
the  future  has  any  such  misfortunes  in  store  for  us  as  you  anticipate." 
Said  Captain  Fox :  "If  the  Merrimac  does  not  sink  our  ships,  who  is  to 
prevent  her  from  dropping  her  anchor  in  the  Potomac,  where  that  steamer 
lies  ?"  pointing  to  a  steamer  at  anchor  below  the  long  bridge,  "and  throw- 
ing her  hundred-pound  shells  into  this  room,  or  battering  down  the  walls 
of  the  Capitol?" 

"The  Almighty,  Captain,"  answered  the  President,  excitedly,  but 
without  the  least  affectation.  "I  expect  set-backs,  defeats ;  we  have  had 
them  and  shall  have  them.  They  are  common  to  all  wars.  But  I  have 
not  the  slightest  fear  of  any  result  which  shall  fatally  impair  our  military 
and  naval  strength,  or  give  other  powers  any  right  to  interfere  in  our 
quarrel.  The  destruction  of  the  Capitol  would  do  both. 

"I  do  not  fear  it,  for  this  is  God's  fight,  and  He  will  win  it  in  His  own 
good  time.  He  will  take  care  that  our  enemies  will  not  push  us  too  far. 

"Speaking  of  iron-clads,"  said  the  President,  "you  do  not  seem  to 
take  the  little  Monitor  into  account.  I  believe  in  the  Monitor  and  her 
commander.  If  Captain  Worden  does  not  give  a  good  account  of  the 
Monitor  and  of  himself,  I  shall  have  made  a  mistake  in  following  my 
judgment  for  the  first  time  since  I  have  been  here,  Captain.  I  have  not 
made  a  mistake  in  following  my  clear  judgment  of  men  since  this  war 
began.  I  have  followed  that  judgment  when  I  gave  Worden  the  com- 
mand of  the  Monitor.  I  would  make  the  appointment  over  again  today. 
The  Monitor  should  be  in  Hampton  Roads  now.  She  left  New  York 
eight  days  ago."  After  the  captain  had  again  presented  what  he  con- 
sidered the  possibilities  of  failure,  the  President  replied,  "No,  no,  Captain, 
I  respect  your  judgment,  as  you  have  reason  to  know,  but  this  time  you 
are  all  wrong. 

"The  Monitor  was  one  of  my  inspirations;  I  believed  in  her  firmly 
when  that  energetic  contractor  first  showed  me  Ericsson's  plans.  Captain 
Ericsson's  plain  but  rather  enthusiastic  demonstration  made  my  conver- 
sion permanent.  It  was  called  a  floating  battery  then ;  I  called  it  a  raft. 
I  caught  some  of  the  inventor's  enthusiasm,  and  it  has  been  growing  upon 
me.  I  thought  then,  and  I  am  confident  now,  it  is  just  what  we  want. 
I  am  sure  that  the  Monitor  is  still  afloat,  and  that  she  will  yet  give  a  good 


454  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

account  of  herself.     Sometimes  I  think  she  may  be  the  veritable  sling 
with  a  stone  that  will  yet  smite  the  Merrimac  Philistine  in  the  forehead." 

Soon  was  the  President's  judgment  verified,  for  the  "Fight  of  the 
Monitor  and  Merrimac"  changed  all  the  conditions  of  naval  warfare. 

After  the  victory  was  gained,  the  presiding  Captain  Fox  and  others 
went  on  board  the  Monitor,  and  Captain  Worden  was  requested  by  the 
President  to  narrate  the  history  of  the  encounter. 

Captain  Worden  did  so  in  a  modest  manner,  and  apologized  for  not 
being  able  to  better  provide  for  his  guests.  The  President  smilingly  re- 
sponded: "Some  uncharitable  people  say  that  old  Bourbon  is  an  indis- 
pensable element  in  the  fighting  qualities  of  some  of  our  generals  in  the 
field,  but,  Captain,  after  the  account  that  we  have  heard  today,  no  one 
will  say  that  any  Dutch  courage  is  needed  on  board  the  Monitor." 

"It  never  has  been,  sir,"  modestly  observed  the  captain. 

Captain  Fox  then  gave  a  description  of  what  he  saw  of  the  engage- 
ment and  described  it  as  indescribably  grand.  Then,  turning  to  the  Presi- 
dent, he  continued,  "Now,  standing  here  on  the  deck  of  this  battle-scarred 
vessel,  the  first  genuine  iron-clad — the  victor  in  the  first  fight  of  iron- 
clads— let  me  make  a  confession,  and  perform  an  act  of  simple  justice. 

"I  never  fully  believed  in  armored  vessels  until  I  saw  this  battle. 

"I  know  all  the  facts  which  united  to  give  us  the  Monitor.  I  with- 
hold no  credit  from  Captain  Ericsson,  her  inventor,  but  I  know  that  the 
country  is  principally  indebted  for  the  construction  of  the  vessel  to  Presi- 
dent Lincoln,  and  for  the  success  of  her  trial  to  Captain  Worden,  her 
commander." 

HOOD'S  USEFULNESS  WAS  GONE. 

When  Hood's  army  had  been  scattered  into  fragments,  Lincoln,  elated 
by  the  defeat  of  what  had  so  long  been  a  menacing  force  on  the  borders  of 
Tennessee,  was  reminded  by  its  collapse  of  the  fate  of  a  savage  dog  belong- 
ing to  one  of  his  neighbors  in  the  frontier  settlements  in  which  he  lived  in 
his  youth. 

"The  dog,"  he  said,  "was  the  terror  of  the  neighborhood,  and  its 
owner,  a  churlish  and  quarrelsome  fellow,  took  pleasure  in  the  brute's  forci- 
ble attitude.  Finally,  all  other  means  having  failed  to  subdue  the  crea- 
ture, a  man  loaded  a  lump  of  meat  with  a  charge  of  powder,  to  which  was 
attached  a  slow  fuse ;  this  was  dropped  where  the  dreaded  dog  would  find 
it,  and  the  animal  gulped  down  the  tempting  bit. 

"There  was  a  dull  rumbling,  a  muffled  explosion,  and  fragments  of 
the  dog  were  seen  flying  in  every  direction.  The  grieved  owner,  picking 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  455 

up  the  shattered  remains  of  his  cruel  favorite,  said :     'He  was  a  good  dog, 

but  as  a  dog,  his  days  of  usefulness  are  over.' 

"Hood's  army  was  a  good  army,"  said  Lincoln,  by  way  of  comment, 

"and  we  were  all  afraid  of  it,  but  as  an  army,  its  usefulness  is  gone." 

WANTED  A  BARREL  FOR  EACH  GENERAL. 
Just  previous  to  the  fall  of  Vicksburg  a  self-constituted  committee, 

solicitous  for  the  morals  of  our  armies,  took  it  upon  themselves  to  visit 

the  President  and  urge  the  removal  of  General  Grant. 

In  some  surprise  Mr.  Lincoln  inquired,  "For  what  reason?" 
"Why,"  replied  the  spokesman,  "he  drinks  too  much  whisky." 
"Ah!"  rejoined  Mr.  Lincoln,  dropping  his  lower  lip,  "by  the  way, 

gentlemen,  can  either  of  you  tell  me  where  General  Grant  procures  his 

whisky?    Because,  if  I  can  find  out,  I  will  send  every  general  in  the 

field  a  barrel  of  it!" 

ONE  YOUNG  ONE  ACCOUNTED  FOR. 

Burnside  was  shut  up  in  Konxville,  Tenn.,  for  a  time,  and  there  was 
great  solicitude  all  over  the  country  on  his  account,  as  his  communica- 
tions with  the  North  were  temporarily  cut  off.  One  day  Washington 
was  startled.  The  long  silence  concerning  Burnside's  movements  was 
broken  by  an  urgent  call  from  him  for  succor. 

Lincoln,  relieved  by  the  news  that  Burnside  was  safe,  at  least,  said 
that  he  was  reminded  of  a  woman  who  lived  in  a  forest  clearing  in  Indi- 
ana, her  cabin  surrounded  by  hazel  bushes,  in  which  some  of  her  numer- 
ous flock  of  children  were  continually  being  lost;  when  she  heard  a 
squall  from  one  of  these  in  the  distance,  although  she  knew  that  the 
child  was  in  danger,  perhaps  frightened  by  a  rattlesnake,  she  would  say, 
"Thank  God !  there's  one  of  my  young  ones  that  isn't  lost." 

WAS  WILLING  TO  LET  OLD  JEFF  Go. 

When  Grant  saw  that  Lee  must  soon  capitulate,  Grant  asked  the 
President  whether  he  should  try  to  capture  Jeff  Davis,  or  let  him  escape 
from  the  country  if  he  would.  The  President  said : 

"About  that,  I  told  him  the  story  of  an  Irishman,  who  had  the 
pledge  of  Father  Matthew.  He  became  terrible  thirsty,  and  applied  to 
the  bartender  for  a  lemonade,  and  while  it  was  being  prepared  he  whis- 
pered to  him,  'And  couldn't  ye  put  a  little  brandy  in  it  all  unbeknown 
to  myself?' 

"I  told  Grant  if  he  could  let  Jeff  Davis  escape  all  unbeknown  to 
himself,  to  let  him  go,  I  didn't  want  him." 


456  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

WAS  NOT  AFRAID  OF  BEING  ASSASSINATED. 

The  President,  one  day,  said  philosophically,  "I  long  ago  made  up 
my  mind  that  if  anybody  wants  to  kill  me,  he  will  do  it.  Besides,  in  this 
case,  it  seems  to  me,  the  man  who  would  succeed  me,  would  be  just  as 
objectionable  to  my  enemies — if  I  have  any." 

One  dark  night,  as  he  was  going  out  with  a  friend,  he  took  along 
a  heavy  cane,  remarking  good-naturedly:  "  'Mother'  (Mrs.  Lincoln)  has 
got  a  notion  into  her  head  that  I  shall  be  assassinated,  and  to  please  her 
I  take  the  cane  when  I  go  over  to  the  War  Department  at  night — 
when  I  don't  forget  it." 

Mr.  Nichols  relates  this  thrilling  incident :  "One  night  I  was  doing 
sentinel  duty,  at  the  entrance  to  the  Soldier's  Home.  This  was  about 
the  middle  of  August,  1864.  About  eleven  o'clock  I  heard  a  rifle  shot, 
in  the  direction  of  the  city,  and  shortly  afterwards  I  heard  approaching 
hoof  beats.  In  two  or  three  minutes  a  horse  came  dashing  up.  I  recog- 
nized the  belated  President.  The  President  was  bareheaded.  The  Presi- 
dent simply  thought  that  his  horse  had  taken  fright  at  the  discharge 
of  the  firearms. 

"On  going  back  to  the  place  where  the  shot  had  been  heard,  we 
found  the  President's  hat.  It  was  a  plain  silk  hat,  and  upon  examina- 
tion we  discovered  a  bullet  hole  through  the  crown. 

"The  next  day,  upon  receiving  the  hat,  the  President  remarked  that 
it  was  made  by  some  foolish  marksman,  and  was  not  intended  for  him; 
but  added,  that  he  wished  nothing  said  about  the  matter." 

PASSES  TO  RICHMOND  NOT  HONORED. 

A  gentleman  called  upon  President  Lincoln  before  the  fall  of  Rich- 
mond and  solicited  a  pass  for  that  place. 

"I  should  be  very  happy  to  oblige  you,"  said  the  President,  "if  my 
passes  were  respected ;  but  the  fact  is,  I  have,  within  the  past  two  years, 
given  passes  to  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  men  to  go  to  Richmond 
and  not  one  has  got  there  yet." 

WAS  SORRY  TO  LOSE  THE  HORSES. 

When  President  Lincoln  heard  of  the  rebel  raid  at  Fairfax,  in 
which  a  Brigadier  General  and  a  number  of  valuable  horses  were  cap- 
tured, he  gravely  observed: 

"Well,  I  am  sorry  for  the  horses." 

"Sorry  for  the  horses,  Mr.  President!"  exclaimed  the  Secretary  of 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  457 

War,  raising  his  spectacles  and  throwing  himself  back  in  his  chair  in 
astonishment. 

"Yes,"  replied  Mr.  Lincoln,  "I  can  make  a  Brigadier  General  in  five 
minutes,  but  it  is  not  easy  to  replace  a  hundred  and  ten  horses." 

CHARLES  CERTAINLY  LOST  His  HEAD. 

Jefferson  Davis,  it  appears,  insisted  on  being  recognized  as  a  com- 
mander or  President  in  the  regular  negotiation  with  the  Government. 
This  Mr.  Lincoln  would  not  consent  to. 

Mr.  Hunter  hereupon  referred  to  the  correspondence  between  King 
Charles  the  First  and  his  Parliament  as  a  precedent  for  a  negotiation 
between  a  constitutional  ruler  and  rebels.  Mr.  Lincoln's  face  then  wore 
that  indescribable  expression  which  generally  preceded  his  hardest  hits, 
and  he  remarked:  "Upon  questions  of  history,  I  must  refer  you  to  Mr. 
Seward,  for  he  is  posted  on  such  things,  and  I  don't  profess  to  be;  but 
my  only  distinct  recollection  of  the  matter  is,  that  Charles  lost  his  head." 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

LINCOLN'S  SECOND  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS  ON  MARCH  4TH,  1865 — THE 
LAST  SPEECH  MADE  BY  THE  MARTYR  PRESIDENT,  IN  RESPONSE  TO 
A  SERENADE,  BEFORE  His  ASSASSINATION — TEXT  OF  His  IMMORTAL 
ADDRESS  ON  THE  BATTLEFIELD  OF  GETTYSBURG. 


President  Lincoln's  second  inaugural  address,  delivered  March  4th, 
1865,  is  celebrated  for  the  tone  of  kindliness  and  charity  which  pervades  it : 

"FELLOW-COUNTRYMEN  :  At  this  second  appearing  to  take  the  oath 
of  the  Presidential  office,  there  is  less  occasion  for  an  extended  address 
than  there  was  at  the  first.  Then,  a  statement  somewhat  in  detail  of  a 
course  to  be  pursued  seemed  very  fitting  and  proper.  Now,  at  the  expi- 
ration of  four  years,  during  which  public  declarations  have  been  con- 
stantly called  forth  on  every  point  and  phase  of  the  great  contest  which 
still  absorbs  the  attention  and  engrosses  the  energies  of  the  nation,  little 
that  is  new  could  be  presented. 

"The  progress  of  our  arms,  upon  which  all  else  chiefly  depends,  is  as 
well  known  to  the  public  as  to  myself ;  and  it  is,  I  trust,  reasonably  satis- 
factory and  encouraging  to  all.  With  high  hope  for  the  future,  no  pre- 
diction in  regard  to  it  is  ventured. 

"On  the  occasion  corresponding  to  this  four  years  ago,  all  thoughts 
were  anxiously  directed  to  an  impending  civil  war.  All  dreaded  it ;  all 
sought  to  avoid  it.  While  the  inaugural  address  was  being  delivered 
from  this  place,  devoted  altogether  to  save  the  Union  without  war,  insur- 
gent agents  were  in  the  city  seeking  to  destroy  it  without  war — seeking 
to  dissolve  the  Union  and  divide  the  effects  by  negotiation.  Both  parties 
deprecated  war;  but  one  of  them  would  make  war  rather  than  let  the 
nation  survive,  and  the  other  would  accept  war  rather  than  let  it  perish ; 
and  the  war  came. 

"One-eighth  of  the  whole  population  were  colored  slaves,  not  dis- 
tributed generally  over  the  Union,  but  localized  in  the  southern  part  of  it. 
These  slaves  constituted  a  peculiar  and  powerful  interest.  All  knew 
that  this  interest  was  somehow  the  cause  of  the  war.  To  strengthen, 
perpetuate  and  extend  this  interest,  was  the  object  for  which  the  insur- 

458 


Louis  Pa.yne 


Boston  Corbett 


Ford's  Thea.tre  a.t  Washington 


The  Home  of  Mrs.  Surra-tt 


M 

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J5 
Z 


u 

4) 

X 

U 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  463 

gents  would  rend  the  Union  even  by  war,  while  the  Government  claimed 
no  right  to  do  more  than  to  restrict  the  territorial  enlargement  of  it. 

"Neither  party  expected  for  the  war  the  magnitude  or  the  duration 
which  it  has  already  attained.  Neither  anticipated  that  the  cause  of  the 
conflict  might  cease  with,  or  even  before,  the  conflict  itself  would  cease. 
Each  looked  for  an  easier  triumph,  and  a  result  less  fundamental  and 
astounding. 

"Both  read  the  same  Bible  and  pray  to  the  same  God.  and  each 
invokes  his  aid  against  the  other.  It  may  seem  strange  that  any  man 
should  dare  to  ask  a  just  God's  assistance  in  wringing  their  bread  from 
the  sweat  of  other  men's  faces ;  but  let  us  judge  not,  that  we  be  not 
judged.  The  prayers  of  both  could  not  be  answered.  That  of  neither 
has  been  answered  fully.  The  Almighty  has  His  own  purposes.  'Woe 
unto  the  world  because  of  offenses,  for  it  must  needs  be  that  offenses 
come;  but  woe  to  that  man  by  whom  the  offense  cometh.'  If  we  shall 
suppose  that  American  slavery  is  one  of  these  offenses,  which  in  the 
Providence  of  God  must  needs  come,  but  which,  having  continued 
through  His  appointed  time,  He  now  wills  to  remove,  and  that  He  gives 
to  both  North  and  South  this  terrible  war  as  the  woe  due  to  those  by 
whom  the  offense  came,  shall  we  discern  therein  any  departure  from 
those  divine  attributes  which  the  believers  in  a  living  God  always  ascribe 
to  Him? 

"Fondly  do  we  hope,  fervently  do  we  pray,  that  this  mighty  scourge 
of  war  may  soon  pass  away.  Yet  if  God  wills  that  it  continue  until  the 
wealth  piled  by  the  bondsman's  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  of  unre- 
quited toil  shall  be  sunk,  and  until  every  drop  of  blood  drawn  by  the  lash 
shall  be  paid  by  another  drawn  with  the  sword,  as  was  said  three  thou- 
sand years  ago,  so  still  it  must  be  said,  that  'the  judgments  of  the  Lord 
are  true  and  righteous  altogether.' 

"With  malice  towards  none,  with  charity  for  all,  with  firmness  in 
the  right,  as  God  gives  us  to  see  the  right,  let  us  finish  the  work  we  are 
in,  to  bind  up  the  nation's  wounds,  to  care  for  him  who  shall  have  borne 
the  battle,  and  for  his  widow  and  orphans,  to  do  all  which  may  achieve 
and  cherish  a  just  and  a  lasting  peace  among  ourselves  and  with  all 
nations." 

THE  LAST  SPEECH  OF  PRESIDENT  LINCOLN. 

The  last  speech  ever  made  by  President  Lincoln  was  on  the  night 
of  April  1 5th,  1865,  three  days  before  his  assassination.  It  was  in  re- 


464  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

sponse  to  a  serenade  at  the  White  House,  in  rejoicing  over  the  virtual 
close  of  the  war: 

"FELLOW-CITIZENS:  We  meet  this  evening  not  in  sorrow,  but  in 
gladness  of  heart.  The  evacuation  of  Petersburg  and  Richmond,  and 
the  surrender  of  the  principal  insurgent  army,  give  hope  of  a  righteous 
and  speedy  peace  whose  joyous  expression  cannot  be  restrained.  In  the 
midst  of  this,  however,  He  from  whom  all  blessings  flow  must  not  be 
forgotten.  A  call  for  a  national  thanksgiving  is  being  prepared,  and  will 
be  duly  promulgated.  Nor  must  those  whose  harder  part  gives  us  the 
cause  of  rejoicing  be  overlooked. 

"Their  honors  must  not  be  parceled  out  with  the  others.  I  myself 
was  near  the  front,  and  had  the  high  pleasure  of  transmitting  much  of 
the  good  news  to  you;  but  no  part  of  the  honor,  for  plan  or  execution, 
is  mine.  To  General  Grant,  his  skillful  officers  and  brave  men,  all  be- 
longs. The  gallant  navy  stood  ready,  but  was  not  in  reach  to  take  active 
part. 

"By  these  recent  successes,  the  re-inauguration  of  the  national  au- 
thority, reconstruction,  which  has  had  a  large  share  of  thought  from  the 
first,  is  pressed  much  more  closely  upon  our  attention.  It  is  fraught  with 
great  difficulty.  Unlike  the  case  of  a  war  between  independent  nations, 
there  is  no  authorized  organ  for  us  to  treat  with.  No  man  has  authority 
to  give  up  the  rebellion  for  any  other  man.  We  simply  must  begin  with 
and  mold  from  disorganized  and  discordant  elements.  Nor  is  it  a  small 
additional  embarrassment  that  we,  the  loyal  people,  differ  among  our- 
selves as  to  the  mode,  manner  and  means  of  reconstruction. 

"As  a  general  rule,  I  abstain  from  reading  the  reports  of  attacks  upon 
myself,  wishing  not  to  be  provoked  by  that  to  which  I  cannot  properly  offer 
an  answer.  In  spite  of  this  precaution,  however,  it  comes  to  my  knowl- 
edge that  I  am  much  censured  from  some  supposed  agency  in  setting  up 
and  seeking  to  sustain  the  new  State  Government  of  Louisiana.  In  this 
I  have  done  just  so  much,  and  no  more,  than  the  public  knows.  In  the 
annual  message  of  December,  1863,  and  accompanying  proclamation,  I 
presented  a  plan  of  reconstruction  (as  the  phrase  goes)  which  I  prom- 
ised, if  adopted  by  any  State,  should  be  acceptable  to,  and  sustained  by, 
the  Executive  Government  of  the  nation. 

"I  distinctly  stated  that  this  was  not  the  only  plan  which  might 
possibly  be  acceptable ;  and  I  also  distinctly  protested  that  the  Executive 
claimed  no  right  to  say  when  or  whether  members  should  be  admitted 
to  seats  in  Congress  from  such  States.  This  plan  was,  in  advance,  sub- 
mitted to  the  then  Cabinet,  and  distinctly  approved  by  every  member  of 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  465 

it.  One  of  them  suggested  that  I  should  then,  and  in  that  connection, 
apply  the  Emancipation  Proclamation  to  the  heretofore  excepted  parts 
of  Virginia  and  Louisiana;  that  I  should  drop  the  suggestion  about 
apprenticeship  for  freed  people,  and  that  I  should  omit  the  protest  against 
my  own  power,  in  regard  to  the  admission  of  members  of  Congress,  but 
even  he  approved  every  part  and  parcel  of  the  plan  which  has  since  been 
employed  or  touched  by  the  actions  of  Louisiana. 

"The  new  Constitution  of  Louisiana,  declaring  emancipation  for  the 
whole  State,  practically  applies  the  proclamation  to  the  part  previously 
excepted.  It  does  not  adopt  apprenticeship  to  freed  people,  and  it  is 
silent,  as  it  could  not  well  be  otherwise,  about  the  admission  of  members 
of  Congress.  So  that,  as  it  applies  to  Louisiana,  every  member  of  the 
Cabinet  fully  approved  the  plan. 

"The  message  went  to  Congress,  and  I  received  many  commenda- 
tions of  the  plan,  written  and  verbal;  and  not  a  single  objection  to  it, 
from  any  professed  emancipationist,  came  to  my  knowledge,  until  after 
the  news  reached  Washington  that  the  people  of  Louisiana  had  begun 
to  move  in  accordance  with  it.  From  about  July,  1862,  I  had  corre- 
sponded with  different  persons  supposed  to  be  interested,  seeking  a  recon- 
struction of  a  State  Government  for  Louisiana. 

"When  the  message  of  1863,  with  the  plan  before  mentioned,  reached 
New  Orleans,  General  Banks  wrote  me  he  was  confident  that  the  people, 
with  his  military  co-operation,  would  reconstruct  substantially  on  that 
plan.  I  wrote  him,  and  some  of  them,  to  try  it.  They  tried  it,  and  the 
result  is  known.  Such  only  has  been  my  agency  in  getting  up  the  Louisi- 
ana Government.  As  to  sustaining  it,  my  promise  is  out,  as  before  stated. 

BAD  PROMISES  ARE  BETTER  BROKEN. 

"But,  as  bad  promises  are  better  broken  than  kept,  I  shall  treat  this 
as  a  bad  promise,  and  break  it,  whenever  I  shall  be  convinced  that  keep- 
ing it  is  adverse  to  the  public  interest.  But  I  have  not  yet  been  so  con- 
vinced. 

"I  have  been  shown  a  letter  on  this  subject,  supposed  to  be  an 
able  one,  in  which  the  writer  expresses  regret  that  my  mind  has  not  seemed 
to  be  definitely  fixed  on  the  question  whether  the  seceded  States,  so 
called,  are  in  the  Union  or  out  of  it.  It  would,  perhaps,  add  astonish- 
ment to  his  regret  to  learn  that,  since  I  have  found  professed  Union  men 
endeavoring  to  make  that  question,  I  have  purposely  forborne  any  public 
expression  upon  it 


466  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

"As  appears  to  me,  that  question  has  not  been,  nor  yet  is,  a  practi- 
cally material  one,  and  that  any  discussion  of  it,  while  it  thus  remains 
practically  immaterial,  could  have  no  effect  other  than  the  mischievous 
one  of  dividing  our  friends. 

"As  yet,  whatever  'it  may  hereafter  become,  that  question  is  bad, 
as  the  basis  of  a  controversy,  and  good  for  nothing  at  all — a  merely  per- 
nicious abstraction.  We  all  agree  that  the  seceded  States,  so  called,  are 
out  of  their  proper  relation  to  the  Union,  and  that  the  sole  object  of  the 
Government,  civil  and  military,  in  regard  to  those  States,  is  to  again  get 
them  into  their  proper  practical  relation.  I  believe  it  is  not  only  possible, 
but,  in  fact,  easier  to  do  this  without  deciding,  or  even  considering, 
whether  these  States  have  ever  been  out  of  the  Union,  than  with  it. 
Finding  themselves  safely  at  home,  it  would  be  utterly  immaterial  whether 
they  had  ever  been  abroad. 

"Let  us  all  join  in  doing  the  acts  necessary  to  restoring  the  proper 
practical  relations  between  these  States  and  the  Union,  and  each  forever 
after  innocently  indulge  his  own  opinion  whether,  in  doing  the  acts,  he 
brought  the  States  from  without  into  the  Union,  or  only  gave  them  proper 
assistance,  they  never  having  been  out  of  it. 

"The  amount  of  constituency,  so  to  speak,  on  which  the  new  Louisiana 
Government  rests  would  be  more  satisfactory  to  all  if  it  contained  fifty, 
thirty,  or  even  twenty  thousand,  as  it  really  does.  It  is  also  unsatisfac- 
tory to  some  that  the  election  franchise  is  not  given  to  the  colored  man.  I 
would  myself  prefer  that  it  were  now  conferred  on  the  very  intelligent 
and  those  who  serve  our  cause  as  soldiers.  Still,  the  question  is  not 
whether  the  Louisiana  Government,  as  it  stands,  is  quite  all  that  is  desira- 
ble. The  question  is,  'Will  it  be  wiser  to  take  is  as  it  is,  or  to  reject  and 
disperse  it  ?' 

"Can  Louisiana  be  brought  into  proper  practical  relation  with  the 
Union  sooner  by  sustaining  or  discarding  the  new  State  Government? 

"Some  twelve  thousand  voters  in  the  heretofore  Slave  State  of  Lou- 
isiana have  sworn  allegiance  to  the  Union,  assumed  to  be  the  rightful 
political  power  of  the  State,  held  elections,  organized  a  State  Govern- 
ment, adopted  a  Free  State  constitution,  giving  the  benefit  of  public 
schools  equally  to  black  and  white,  and  empowering  the  Legislature  to 
confer  elective  franchise  upon  the  colored  man.  The  Legislature  has 
already  voted  to  ratify  the  Constitutional  amendment  passed  by  Congress, 
abolishing  slavery  throughout  the  nation. 

"These  twelve  thousand  persons  are  thus  fully  committed  to  the  Un- 
ion and  to  perpetual  freedom  in  the  States — committed  to  the  very  things, 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  467 

and  nearly  all  the  things,  the  nation  wants — and  they  ask  the  nation's 
recognition  and  its  assistance  to  make  good  that  committal. 

MUST  NEITHER  REJECT  NOR  SPURN  THEM. 

"Now,  if  we  reject  and  spurn  them,  we  do  our  utmost  to  disorganize 
and  disperse  them.  We,  in  effect,  say  to  the  white  men :  'You  are  worth- 
less, or  worse ;  we  will  neither  help  you,  nor  be  helped  by  you.'  To  the 
blacks  we  say:  'This  cup  of  liberty  which  these,  your  old  masters,  hold 
to  your  lips,  we  will  dash  from  you,  and  leave  you  to  the  chances  of 
gathering  the  spilled  and  scattered  contents  in  some  vague  and  undefined 
when,  where  and  how.' 

"If  this  course,  discouraging  and  paralyzing  both  white  and  black, 
has  any  tendency  to  bring  Louisiana  into  proper  practical  relations  with 
the  Union,  I  have,  so  far,  been  unable  to  perceive  it.  If,  on  the  contrary, 
we  recognize  and  sustain  the  new  government  of  Louisiana,  the  converse 
of  all  this  is  made  true. 

"We  encourage  the  hearts  and  nerve  the  arms  of  the  twelve  thousand 
to  adhere  to  their  work,  and  argue  for  it,  and  proselyte  for  it,  fight  for  it, 
and  feed  it,  and  grow  it  and  ripen  it  to  a  complete  success.  The  colored 
man,  too,  seeing  all  united  for  him,  is  inspired  with  vigilance,  and  energy, 
and  daring  the  same  end.  Grant  that  he  desires  elective  franchise,  will 
he  not  obtain  it  sooner  by  saving  the  already  advanced  steps  towards  it, 
than  by  running  backward  over  them?  Concede  that  the  new  govern- 
ment of  Louisiana  is  only  as  to  what  it  should  be  as  the  egg  is  to  the 
fowl,  we  shall  sooner  have  the  fowl  by  hatching  the  egg  than  by  smash- 
ing it.  [Laughter.] 

"Again,  if  we  reject  Louisiana,  we  also  reject  one  vote  in  favor  of 
the  proposed  amendment  to  the  National  Constitution.  To  meet  this 
proposition,  it  has  been  argued  that  no  more  than  three- fourths  of  those 
States  which  have  not  attempted  secession  are  necessary  to  validly  ratify 
the  amendment.  I  do  not  commit  myself  against  this,  further  than  to 
say  that  such  a  ratification  would  be  questionable,  and  sure  to  be  persist- 
ently questioned,  while  ratification  by  three-fourths  of  all  the  States  would 
be  unquestioned  and  unquestionable. 

"I  repeat  the  question :  'Can  Louisiana  be  brought  into  proper  prac- 
tical relation  with  the  Union  sooner  by  sustaining  or  by  discarding  her 
new  State  Government?'  What  has  been  said  of  Louisiana  will  apply 
generally  to  other  States.  And  yet  so  great  peculiarities  pertain  to  each 
State,  and  such  important  and  sudden  changes  occur  in  the  same  State, 


468  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

and,  withal,  so  new  and  unprecedented  is  the  whole  case,  that  no  exclusive 
and  inflexible  plan  can  safely  be  prescribed  as  to  details  and  collaterals. 
Such  exclusive  and  inflexible  plan  would  surely  become  a  new  entangle- 
ment. Important  principles  may,  and  must  be,  flexible. 

"In  the  present  situation,  as  the  phrase  goes,  it  may  be  my  duty  to 
make  some  new  announcement  to  the  people  of  the  South.  I  am  consid- 
ering, and  shall  not  fail  to  act,  when  satisfied  that  action  will  be  proper." 

LINCOLN'S  ADDRESS  AT  GETTYSBURG. 

The  address  of  President  Lincoln,  delivered  at  the  dedication  of  the 
Gettysburg  National  Cemetery,  on  the  Gettysburg  battle-field,  November 
ipth,  1863,  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  finest  pieces  of  composition  in  the 
English  language.  In  fact,  it  has  become  a  classic.  Here  it  is  in  full : 

"LADIES  AND  'GENTLEMEN:  Four  score  and  seven  years  ago  our 
fathers  brought  forth  upon  this  continent  a  new  nation,  conceived  in  lib- 
erty, and  dedicated  to  the  proposition  that  all  men  are  created  equal.  Now 
we  are  engaged  in  a  great  civil  war,  testing  whether  that  nation,  or  any 
nation  so  conceived  and  so  dedicated,  can  long  endure. 

"We  are  met  on  a  great  battle-field  of  that  war.  We  have  come  to 
dedicate  a  portion  of  that  field  as  a  final  resting-place  for  those  who  here 
gave  their  lives  that  that  nation  might  live.  It  is  altogether  fitting  and 
proper  that  we  should  do  this. 

"But  in  a  larger  sense,  we  cannot  dedicate,  we  cannot  consecrate,  we 
cannot  hallow,  this  ground.  The  brave  men,  living  and  dead,  who  strug- 
gled here,  have  consecrated  it  far  above  our  power  to  add  or  detract. 
The  world  will  little  note,  or  long  remember,  what  we  say  here;  but  it 
can  never  forget  what  they  did  here. 

"It  is  for  us,  the  living,  rather  to  be  dedicated  here  to  the  unfinished 
work  which  they  who  fought  here  have  thus  far  so  nobly  advanced. 

"It  is  rather  for  us  to  be  here  dedicated  to  the  great  task  remaining 
before  us,  that  from  these  honored  dead  we  take  increased  devotion  to  that 
cause  for  which  they  gave  the  last  full  measure  of  devotion ;  that  we  here 
highly  resolve  that  these  dead  shall  not  have  died  in  vain ;  that  this  nation, 
under  God,  shall  have  a  new  birth  of  freedom,  and  that  the  Government 
of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the  people,  shall  not  perish  from  the 
earth." 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

JOHN  WILKES  BOOTH  THE  ORIGINATOR  OF  THE  PLOT  TO  ASSASSINATE 
THE  PRESIDENT — FLIGHT,  CAPTURE  AND  DEATH  OF  THE  MURDERER — 
BURIAL  OF  His  BODY  IN  THE  OLD  PENITENTIARY  AT  WASHINGTON. 


John  Wilkes  Booth  was  the  projector  of  the  plot  against  the  Presi- 
dent which  culminated  in  the  taking  of  that  good  man's  life.  He  shrank 
at  first  from  murder  until  another  and  less  dangerous  resolution  failed. 
This  was  no  less  than  the  capture  of  the  President's  body,  and  its  deten- 
tion or  transportation  to  the  South.  There  was  found  upon  a  street  with- 
in the  city  limits  of  Washington  a  house  belonging  to  one  Mrs.  Greene, 
mined  and  furnished  with  underground  apartments,  furnished  with  man- 
acles, and  all  the  accessories  to  private  imprisonment.  Here  the  Presi- 
dent, and  as  many  as  could  be  gagged  and  conveyed  away  with  him,  were 
to  be  concealed,  in  the  event  of  failure  to  run  them  into  the  Confederacy. 
Owing  to  his  failure  to  group  around  him  as  many  men  as  he  desired, 
Booth  abandoned  the  project  of  kidnaping. 

When  Booth  cast  around  him  for  assistants,  he  naturally  selected 
those  men  whom  he  could  control.  The  first  that  recommended  himself 
was  one  Harold,  a  youth  of  inane  and  plastic  character,  carried  away 
by  the  example  of  an  actor,  and  full  of  execrable  quotations,  going  to 
show  that  he  was  an  imitator  of  the  master  spirit,  both  in  text  and  ad- 
miration. This  Harold  was  a  gunner,  and  therefore  versed  in  arms ;  he 
had  traversed  the  whole  lower  portion  of  Maryland,  and  was  therefore  a 
geographer  as  well  as  a  tool.  His  friends  lived  at  every  farm  house 
between  Washington  and  Leonardsville,  and  he  was  respectably  enough 
connected,  so  as  to  make  his  association  creditable  as  well  as  useful. 

Young  Surratt  does  not  appear  to  have  been  a  puissant  spirit  in  the 
scheme;  indeed,  all  design  and  influence  therein  was  absorbed  by  Mrs. 
Surratt  and  Booth.  The  latter  was  the  head  and  heart  of  the  plot ;  Mrs. 
Surratt  was  his  anchor,  and  the  rest  of  the  boys  were  disciples  to  Iscariot 
and  Jezebel.  John  Surratt,  a  youth  of  strong  Southern  physiognomy, 
beardless  and  lanky,  knew  of  the  murder  and  connived  at  it.  "Sam" 
Arnold  and  one  McLaughlin  were  to  have  been  parties  to  it,  but  backed 

469 


470  ABRAHAM    LI  2V  COLN. 

out  in  the  end.  They  all  relied  upon  Mrs.  Surratt,  and  took  their  cues 
from  Wilkes  Booth. 

The  conspiracy  had  its  own  time  and  kept  its  own  counsel.  Murder, 
except  among  the  principals,  was  seldom  mentioned  except  by  genteel 
implication.  But  they  all  publicly  agreed  that  Mr.  Lincoln  ought  to  be 
shot,  and  that  the  North  was  a  race  of  fratricides.  Much  was  said  of 
Brutus,  and  Booth  repeated  heroic  passages,  to  the  delight  of  Harold, 
who  learned  them  also,  and  wondered  if  he  was  not  born  to  greatness. 

In  this  growing  darkness,  where  all  rehearsed  cold-hearted  mur- 
der, Wilkes  Booth  grew  great  of  stature.  He  had  found  a  purpose  con- 
sonant with  his  evil  nature  and  bad  influence  over  weak  men ;  so  he  grew 
moodier,  more  vigilant,  more  plausible.  By  mien  and  temperament  he 
was  born  to  handle  a  stiletto.  All  the  rest  were  swayed  or  persuaded  by 
Booth ;  his  schemes  were  three  in  order : 

First.  To  kidnap  the  President  and  Cabinet,  and  run  them  South  or 
blow  them  up. 

Second.  Kidnaping  failed,  to  murder  the  President  and  the  rest, 
and  seek  shelter  in  the  Confederate  capital. 

Third.  The  rebellion  failed,  to  be  its  avenger,  and  throw  the  coun- 
try into  consternation,  while  he  escaped  by  the  unfrequented  parts  of 
Maryland. 

When  this  last  resolution  had  been  made,  the  plot  was  both  con- 
tracted and  extended.  There  were  made  two  distinct  circles  of  confi- 
dants, those  aware  of  the  meditated  murder,  and  those  who  might  shrink 
from  murder,  though  willing  accessories  for  a.  lesser  object.  Two  col- 
leagues for  blood  were  at  once  accepted,  Payne  and  Atzeroth. 

The  former  was  the  one  who  stabbed  Mr.  Seward.  Atzeroth  was  a 
fellow  of  German  descent,  who  had  led  a  desperate  life  at  Port  Tobacco, 
where  he  was  a  house-painter.  He  had  been  a  blockade-runner  across  the 
Potomac,  and  a  mail-carrier.  When  Booth  and  Mrs.  Surratt  broke  the 
design  to  him,  with  a  suggestion  that  there  was  wealth  in  it,  he  embraced 
the  offer  at  once,  and  bought  a  dirk  and  pistol.  Payne  also  came  from 
the  North  to  Washington,  and,  as  fate  would  have  it,  the  President  was 
announced  to  appear  at  Ford's  Theater  in  public.  Then  the  resolve  of 
blood  was  reduced  to  a  definite  moment. 

On  the  night  before  the  crime,  Booth  found  one  on  whom  he  could 
rely.  John  Surratt  was  sent  northward  by  his  mother  on  Thursday. 
Sam  Arnold  and  McLaughlin,  each  of  whom  was  to  kill  a  Cabinet  officer, 
grew  pigeon-livered  and  ran  away.  Harold,  true  to  his  partiality,  lingered 
around  Booth  to  the  end ;  Atzeroth  went  so  far  as  to  take  his  knife  and 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  471 

pistol  to  Kirkwood's,  where  Vice-President  Johnson  was  stopping,  and  hid 
them  under  the  bed.  But  either  his  courage  failed,  or  a  trifling  acci- 
dent deranged  his  plan.  But  Payne,  a  professional  murderer,  stood 
"game,"  and  fought  his  way  over  prostrate  figures  to  the  sick  victim's 
bed.  There  was  great  confusion  and  terror  among  the  tacit  and  rash 
conspirators  on  Thursday  night.  They  had  looked  upon  the  plot  as  of  a 
melodrama,  and  found  to  their  horror  that  John  Wilkes  Booth  meant  to 
do  murder. 

Six  weeks  before  the  murder,  young  John  Surratt  had  taken  two 
splendid  repeating  carbines  to  Surrattsville,  and  told  John  Lloyd  to 
secrete  them.  The  latter  made  a  hole  in  the  wainscoting  and  suspended 
them  from  strings,  so  that  they  fell  within  the  plastered  wall  of  the  room 
below.  On  the  very  afternoon  of  the  murder,  Mrs.  Surratt  was  driven 
to  Surrattsville,  and  she  told  John  Lloyd  to  have  the  carbines  ready,  be- 
cause they  would  be  called  for  that  night.  Harold  was  made  quarter- 
master, and  hired  the  horses.  He  and  Atzeroth  were  mounted  between 
eight  o'clock  and  the  time  of  the  murder,  and  riding  about  the  streets 
together. 

The  whole  party  was  prepared  for  a  long  ride,  as  their  spurs  and 
gauntlets  show.  It  may  have  been  their  design  to  ride  in  company  to  the 
Lower  Potomac,  and  by  their  numbers  exact  subsistence  and  transporta- 
tion. 

Then  came  the  shooting  of  the  President  and  the  escape  of  Booth. 

While  the  report  of  the  pistol,  taking  the  President's  life,  went  like 
a  pang  through  the  theater,  Payne  was  spilling  blood  in  Mr.  Seward's 
house  from  threshold  to  sick-chamber.  But  Booth's  broken  leg  delayed 
him  or  made  him  lose  his  general  calmness,  and  he  and  Harold  left  Payne 
to  his  fate. 

Within  fifteen  minutes  after  the  murder  the  wires  were  severed  en- 
tirely round  the  city,  excepting  only  a  secret  wire  for  Government  uses, 
which  leads  to  Old  Point.  By  this  wire  the  Government  reached  the 
fortifications  around  Washington,  first  telegraphing  all  the  way  to  Old 
Point,  and  then  back  to  the  outlying  forts. 

Payne  having,  as  he  thought,  made  an  end  of  Mr.  Seward,  which 
would  have  been  the  case  but  for  Robinson,  the  nurse,  mounted  his  horse, 
and  attempted  to  find  Booth.  But  the  town  was  in  alarm,  and  he  galloped . 
at  once  for  the  open  country,  taking,  as  he  imagined,  the  proper  road  for 
the  East  Branch.  He  rode  at  a  killing  pace,  and  when  near  Port  Lincoln, 
on  the  Baltimore  pike,  his  horse  threw  him  headlong.  Afoot  and  bewil- 
dered, he  resolved  to  return  to  the  city,  whose  lights  he  could  plainly  see ; 


472  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

but  before  doing  so  he  concealed  himself  some  time,  and  made  some  al- 
most absurd  efforts  to  disguise  himself.  Cutting  a  cross  section  from 
the  woolen  undershirt  which  covered  his  muscular  arm,  he  made  a  rude 
cap  of  it,  and  threw  away  his  bloody  coat.  This  was  found  later  in 
the  woods,  and  blood  was  found  also  on  his  bosom  and  sleeves.  He 
also  spattered  himself  plentifully  with  mud  and  clay,  and  taking  an  aban- 
doned pick  from  the  deserted  intrenchments  near  by,  he  struck  out  at 
once  for  Washington. 

He  reached  Mrs.  Surratt's  door  just  as  the  officers  of  the  Govern- 
ment were  arresting  her.  They  seized  Payne  at  once,  who  had  an  awk- 
ward lie  to  urge  in  his  defense — that  he  had  come  there  to  dig  a  trench. 
That  night  he  dug  a  trench  deep  and  broad  enough  for  them  both  to  lie 
in  forever.  They  washed  his  hands,  and  found  them  soft  and  womanish ; 
his  pockets  contained  tooth  and  nail-brushes,  and  a  delicate  pocket-knife. 
All  this  apparel  consorted  ill  with  his  assumed  character. 

Coarse,  and  hard,  and  calm,  Mrs.  Surratt  sjiut  up  her  house  after 
the  murder,  and  waited  with  her  daughters  till  'the  officers  came.  She 
was  imperturbable,  and  rebuked  her  girls  for  weeping,  and  would  have 
gone  t6  jail  like  a  statue,  but  that  in  her  extremity  Payne  knocked  at 
her  door.  He  had  come,  he  said,  to  dig  a  ditch  for  Mrs.  Surratt,  whom 
he  very  well  knew.  But  Mrs.  Surratt  protested  that  she  had  never  seen 
the  man  at  all,  and  had  no  ditch  to  clean. 

"How  fortunate,  girls,"  she  said,  "that  these  officers  are  here;  this 
man  might  have  murdered  us  all." 

Her  effrontery  stamps  her  as  worthy  of  companionship  with  Booth. 
Payne  was  identified  by  a  lodger  of  Mrs.  Surratt's  as  having  twice  visited 
the  house,  under  the  name  of  Wood. 

Atzeroth  had  a  room  almost  directly  over  Vice-President  Johnson's. 
He  had  all  the  materials  to  do  murder,  but  lost  spirit  or  opportunity.  He 
ran  away  so  hastily  that  all  his  arms  and  baggage  were  discovered;  a 
tremendous  bowie  knife  and  a  Colt's  cavalry  revolver  were  found  between 
the  mattresses  of  his  bed.  Booth's  coat  was  also  found  there,  showing 
conspired  flight  in  company,  and  in  it  three  boxes  of  cartridges,  a  map 
of  Maryland,  gauntlets  for  riding,  a  spur,  and  a  handkerchief  marked 
with  the  name  of  Booth's  mother — a  mother's  souvenir  for  a  murderer's 
pocket. 

Atzeroth  fled  alone,  and  was  found  at  the  house  of  his  uncle,  in 
Montgomery  County,  Maryland. 

Harold  met  Booth  immediately  after  the  crime,  in  the  next  street, 
and  they  rode  at  a  gallop  past  the  Patent  Office  and  over  Capitol  Hill. 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  473 

As  they  crossed  the  Eastern  Branch  at  Uniontown,  Booth  gave  his 
proper  name  to  the  officer  at  the  bridge.  This,  which  would  seem  to  have 
been  foolish,  was,  in  reality,  very  shrewd.  The  officers  believed  that  one 
of  Booth's  accomplices  had  given  this  name  in  order  to  put  them  out  of 
the  real  Booth's  track.  So  they  made  efforts  elsewhere,  and  Booth  got  a 
start.  At  midnight,  precisely,  the  two  horsemen  stopped  at  Surratts- 
ville,  Booth  remaining  on  his  nag,  while  Harold  descended  and  knocked 
lustily  at  the  door.  Lloyd,  the  landlord,  came  down  at  once,  when  Harold 
pushed  past  him  to  the  bar,  and  obtained  a  bottle  of  whisky,  some  of  which 
he  gave  to  Booth  immediately.  While  Booth  was  drinking,  Harold  went 
upstairs  and  brought  down  one  of  the  carbines.  Lloyd  started  to  get  the 
other,  but  Harold  said: 

"We  don't  want  it ;  Booth  has  broken  his  leg,  and  can't  carry  it." 

So  the  second  carbine  remained  in  the  hall,  where  the  officers  after- 
ward found  it. 

As  the  two  horsemen  started  to  go  off,  Booth  cried  out  to  Lloyd : 

"Don't  you  want  to  hear  some  news?" 

"I  don't  care  much  about  it?"  cried  Lloyd,  by  his  own  account. 

"We  have  murdered,"  said  Booth,  "the  President  and  Secretary  of 
State." 

And,  with  this  horrible  confession,  Booth  and  Harold  dashed  away 
in  the  midnight,  across  Prince  George's  County. 

On  Saturday,  before  sunrise,  Booth  and  Harold,  who  had  ridden 
all  night  without  stopping  elsewhere,  reached  the  house  of  Dr.  Mudd, 
three  miles  from  Bryantown.  They  contracted  with  him,  for  twenty-five 
dollars  in  greenbacks,  to  set  the  broken  leg.  Harold,  who  knew  Dr. 
Mudd,  introduced  Booth  under  another  name,  and  stated  that  he  had 
fallen  from  his  horse  during  the  night.  The  doctor  remarked  of  Booth 
that  he  draped  the  lower  part  of  his  face  while  the  leg  was  being  set ;  he 
was  silent,  and  in  pain.  Having  no  splints  in  the  house,  they  split  up  an 
old-fashioned  wooden  band-box  and  prepared  them.  The  doctor  was 
assisted  by  an  Englishman,  who  at  the  same  time  began  to  hew  out  a 
pair  of  crutches.  The  inferior  bone  of  the  left  leg  was  broken  vertically 
across,  and,  because  vertically,  it  did  not  yield  when  the  crippled  man 
walked  upon  it. 

The  riding-boot  of  Booth  had  to  be  cut  from  his  foot;  within  were 
the  words  "J.  Wilkes."  The  doctor  says  he  did  not  notice  these.  The 
two  men  waited  around  the  house  all  day,  but  toward  evening  they  slipped 
their  horses  from  the  stable  and  rode  away  in  the  direction  of  Allen's 
Fresh. 


474  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

Below  Ervantown  run  certain  deep  and  slimy  swamps.  Along  the 
belt  of  these  Booth  and  Harold  picked  up  a  negro  named  Swan,  who 
volunteered  to  show  them  the  road  for  two  dollars.  They  gave  him  five 
more  to  show  them  the  route  to  Allen's  Fresh ;  but  really  wished,  as  their 
actions  intimated,  to  gain  the  house  of  one  Sam  Coxe,  a  notorious  rebel, 
and  probably  well  advised  of  the  plot.  They  reached  the  house  at  mid- 
night. It  is  a  fine  dwelling,  one  of  the  best  in  Maryland ;  and  after  hal- 
looing for  some  time,  Coxe  came  down  to  the  door  himself.  As  soon  as 
he  opened  it,  and  beheld  who  the  strangers  were,  he  instantly  blew  out  the 
candle  he  held  in  his  hand,  and,  without  a  word,  pulled  them  into  the 
room,  the  negro  remaining  in  the  yard.  The  confederates  remained  in 
Coxe's  house  till  4  a.  m.,  during  which  time  the  negro  saw  them  eat  and 
drink  heartily;  but  when  they  reappeared  they  spoke  in  a  loud  tone,  so 
that  Swan  could  hear  them,  against  the  hospitality  of  Coxe.  All  this 
was  meant  to  influence  the  darkey;  but  their  motives  were  as  apparent 
as  their  words.  He  conducted  them  three  miles  further  on,  when  they 
told  him  that  now  they  knew  the  way,  and  giving  him  five  dollars  more, 
making  twelve  in  all,  told  him  to  go  back. 

But  when  the  negro,  in  the  dusk  of  the  morning,  looked  after  them 
as  he  receded,  he  saw  that  both  horses'  heads  were  turned  once  more 
toward  Coxe's,  and  it  was  this  man,  doubtless,  who  harbored  the  fugitives 
from  Sunday  to  Thursday,  aided,  possibly,  by  such  neighbors  as  the 
Wilsons  and  Adamses. 

At  the  point  where  Booth  crossed  the  Potomac  the  shores  are  very 
shallow,  and  one  must  wade  out  some  distance  to  where  a  boat  will  float. 
A  white  man  came  up  here  with  a  canoe  on  Friday,  and  tied  it  by  a  stone 
anchor.  Between  seven  and  eight  o'clock  it  disappeared,  and  in  the  after- 
noon some  men  at  work  on  Methxy  Creek,  in  Virginia,  saw  Booth  and 
Harold  land,  tie  the  boat's  rope  to  a  stone  and  fling  it  asho're,  and  strike  at 
once  across  a  ploughed  field  for  King  George  Court-house. 

The  few  Unionists  of  Prince  George's  and  Charles  Counties,  long 
persecuted  and  intimidated,  came  forward  and  gave  important  testimony. 
They  told  the  officers  of  the  secret  meetings  at  Lloyd's  Hotel,  and  so 
Lloyd  was  taken  and  put  into  jail  at  Robytown;  that  night  his  house 
was  searched,  and  Booth's  carbine  found  hidden  in  the  wall.  Three  days 
afterward  Lloyd  himself  confessed. 

The  little  party  examined  all  the  farm  houses  below  Washington. 
Beyond  Bryantown  they  overhauled  the  residence  of  Dr.  Mudd,  and 
found  Booth's  boots.  This  was  before  Lloyd  confessed,  and  was  the  first 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  475 

positive  trace  the  officers  had  that  they  were  really  close  upon  the 
assassins. 

By  this  time  the  country  was  filling  up  with  soldiers,  but  previously 
a  second  detective  party  went  out  under  the  personal  command  of  Major 
O'Bierne.  It  embarked  at  Washington  on  a  steam  tug  for  Chappell's 
Point.  Here  a  military  station  had  long  been  established  for  the  preven- 
tion of  blockade  and  mail  running  across  the  Potomac.  It  was  command- 
ed by  Lieutenant  Laverty,  and  garrisoned  by  sixty-five  men.  On  Tues- 
day night  Major  O'Bierne's  party  reached  this  place,  and  soon  afterward 
a  telegraph  station  was  established  here  by  an  invaluable  man  to  the  ex- 
pedition, Captain  Beckwith,  General  Grant's  chief  cipher  operator,  who 
tapped  the  Point  Lookout  wire,  and  placed  the  War  Department  within  a 
moment's  reach  of  the  theater  of  events. 

Major  O'Bierne's  party  started  at  once,  over  the  worst  road  in  the 
world,  for  Port  Tobacco. 

Into  this  abstract  of  Gomorrah  the  few  detectives  went.  They  pre- 
tended to  be  inquiring  for  friends,  or  to  have  business  designs,  xand  the 
first  people  they  heard  of  were  Harold  and  Atzeroth.  The  latter  had 
visited  Port  Tobacco  three  weeks  before  the  murder,  and  intimated  at 
that  time  his  design  of  fleeing  the  country. 

Atzeroth  had  been  in  town  just  prior  to  the  crime.  He  had  been 
living  with  a  widow  woman,  named  Mrs.  Wheeler,  and  she  was  imme- 
diately called  upon  by  Major  O'Bierne.  His  trunk  was  found  in  her 
garret,  and  in  it  the  key  to  his  paint  shop  in  Port  Tobacco.  The  latter 
was  fruitlessly  searched,  but  the  probable  whereabouts  of  Atzeroth  •  in 
Montgomery  County  obtained,  and  Major  O'Bierne  telegraphing  there 
immediately,  the  desperate  fellow  was  found  and  locked  up. 

By  this  time  the  military  had  come  up  in  considerable  numbers,  and 
Major  O'Bierne  was  enabled  to  confer  with  Major  Wait,  of  the  Eighth 
Illinois. 

The  Major  had  pushed  on,  on  Monday  night,  to  Leonardstown,  and 
pretty  well  overhauled  that  locality. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  preparations  were  made  to  hunt  the  swamps 
around  Chapmantown,  Bethtown,  and  Allen's  Fresh.  Booth  had  been 
entirely  lost  since  his  departure  from  Mudd's  house,  and  it  was  believed 
that  he  had  either  pushed  on  for  the  Potomac  or  taken  to  the  swamps. 
The  officers  sagaciously  determined  to  follow  him  to  the  one,  and  to  ex- 
plore the  other. 

The  swamps  tributary  to  the  various  branches  of  the  Wicomico  River, 
of  which  the  chief  feeder  is  Allen's  Creek,  bear  various  names,  such  as 


476  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

Jordan's  Swamp,  Atchall's  Swamp,  and  Scrub  Swamp.  There  are  dense 
growths  of  dogwood,  gum,  and  beech,  planted  in  sluices  of  water  and 
bog,  and  their  width  varies  from  a  half  mile  to  four  miles,  while  their 
length  is  upward  of  sixteen  miles.  Frequent  deep  ponds  dot  this  wilder- 
ness place,  with  here  and  there  a  stretch  of  dry  soil,  but  no  human  being 
inhabits  the  malarious  extent ;  even  a  hunted  murderer  would  shrink  from 
hiding  there.  Serpents  and  slimy  lizards  are  the  only  living  denizens; 
sometimes  the  coon  takes  refuge  in  this  desert  from  the  hounds,  and  in 
the  soft  mud  a  thousand  odorous  muskrats  delve,  and  now  and  then  a 
tremulous  otter.  But  not  even  the  hunted  negro  dare  to  fathom  the 
treacherous  clay,  nor  make  himself  a  fellow  of  the  slimy  reptiles  which 
reign  absolute  in  this  terrible  solitude.  Here  the  soldiers  prepared  to  seek 
for  the  President's  assassins,  and  no  search  of  the  kind  has  ever  been  so 
thorough  and  patient.  The  Shawnee,  in  his  stronghold  of  despair  in  the 
heart  of  the  Okeefenokee,  would  scarcely  have  changed  homes  with 
Wilkes  Booth  and  David  Harold,  hiding  in  this  inhuman  country. 

The  military  forces  deputed  to  pursue  the  fugitives  were  seven  hun- 
dred men  of  the  Eighth  Illinois  Cavalry,  six  hundred  men  of  the  Twenty- 
second  Colored  Troops,  and  one  hundred  men  of  the  Sixteenth  New  York. 
These  swept  the  swamp  by  detachments,  the  mass  of  them  dismounted, 
with  cavalry  at  the  belts  of  clearings,  interspersed  with  detectives  at 
frequent  intervals  in  the  rear.  They  first  formed  a  strong  picket  cordon 
entirely  around  the  swamps,  and  then,  drawn  up  in  two  orders  of  battle, 
advanced  boldly  into  the  bog  by  two  lines  of  march.  One  party  swept  the 
swamps  longitudinally,  the  other  pushed  straight  across  their  smallest 
diameter. 

A  similar  march  has  not  been  made  during  the  war;  the  soldiers 
were  only  a  few  paces  apart,  and  in  steady  order  they  took  the  ground  as 
it  came,  now  plunging  to  their  armpits  in  foul  sluices  of  gangrened  water, 
now  hopelessly  submerged  in  slime,  now  attacked  by  legions  of  wood- 
ticks,  now  tempting  some  unfaithful  log  or  greenishly  solid  morass,  and 
plunging  to  the  tip  of  the  skull  in  poisonous  stagnation ;  the  tree  boughs 
rent  their  uniforms ;  they  came  out  upon  dry  land  many  of  them  without 
a  rag  of  garment,  scratched,  and  gashed,  and  spent,  repugnant  to  them- 
selves, and  disgusting  to  those  who  saw  them ;  but  not  one  trace  of  Booth 
or  Harold  was  anywhere  found.  Wherever  they  might  be,  the  swamps 
did  not  contain  them. 

While  all  this  was  going  on,  a  force  started  from  Point  Lookout,  and 
swept  the  narrow  necks  of  St.  Mary's  quite  up  to  Medley's  Neck.  To 
complete  the  search  in  this  part  of  the  country,  Colonel  Wells  and  Major 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  477 

O'Bierne  started,  with  a  force  of  cavalry  and  infantry,  for  Chappell's 
Point.  They  took  the  entire  peninsula,  as  before,  and  marched  in  close 
skirmish  line  across  it,  but  without  rinding  anything  of  note.  The  man- 
ner of  inclosing  a  house  was  by  cavalry  advances,  which  held  all  the 
avenues  till  mounted  detectives  came  up.  Many  strange  and  ludicrous 
adventures  occurred  on  each  of  these  expeditions.  While  the  forces  were 
going  up  Cobb's  Neck  there  was  a  counter  force  coming  down  from 
Allen's  Fresh. 

Major  O'Bierne  started  for  Leonardstown  with  his  detective  force, 
and  played  off  Laverty  as  Booth,  and  Hoey  as  Harold.  These  two  ad- 
vanced to  farm  houses  and  gave  their  assumed  names,  asking  at  the 
same  time  for  assistance  and  shelter.  They  were  generally  avoided, 
except  by  one  man  named  Claggert,  who  told  them  they  might  hide  in  the 
woods  behind  his  house.  When  Claggert  was  arrested,  however,  he  stated 
that  he  meant  to  hide  only  to  give  them  up.  While  on  this  adventure,  a 
man  who  had  heard  of  the  reward  came  very  near  shooting  Laverty. 
The  ruse  now  became  hazardous,  and  the  detectives  resumed  their  real 
characters. 

One  Mills,  a  rebel  mail-carrier,  also  arrested,  saw  Booth  and  Harold 
lurking  along  the  river  bank  on  Friday;  he  referred  Major  O'Bierne  to 
one  Claggert,  a  rebel,  as  having  seen  them  also;  but  Claggert  held  his 
tongue  and  went  to  jail.  On  Saturday  night,  Major  O'Bierne,  thus  as- 
sured, also  crossed  the  Potomac  with  his  detectives  to  Boone's  farm, 
where  the  fugitives  had  landed.  While  collecting  information  here,  a  gun- 
boat swung  up  the  stream,  and  threatened  to  open  fire  on  the  party. 

It  was  now  night,  and  all  the  party  worn  to  the  ground  with  long 
travel  and  want  of  sleep.  Lieutenant  Laverty's  men  went  a  short  dis- 
tance down  the  country  and  gave  up,  and  Major  O'Bierne,  with  a  single 
man,  pushed  all  night  to  King  George's  Court-house,  and  next  day, 
Sunday,  re-embarked  for  Chappell's  Point.  Hence  he  telegraphed  his 
information,  and  asked  permission  to  pursue,  promising  to  catch  the 
assassins  before  they  reached  Port  Royal.  This  the  department  refused. 
Colonel  Baker's  men  were  delegated  to  make  the  pursuit  with  Lieutenant 
Doherty;  and  O'Bierne  returned  to  Washington. 

Chief  of  the  Secret  Service  Lafayette  Baker  then  took  up  the  case. 
He  at  once  possessed  himself  of  the  little  the  War  Department  had  learned 
and  started  immediately  to  take  the  usual  detective  measures,  till  then 
neglected,  of  offering  a  reward,  and  getting  out  photographs  of  the  sus- 
pected ones.  He  then  dispatched  a  few  chosen  detectives  to  certain  vital 
points,  and  awaited  results. 


478  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

The  first  of  these  was  the  capture  of  Atzeroth.  Others,  like  the 
taking  of  Dr.  Mudd,  simultaneously  occurred.  But,  the  district  suspected 
being  remote  from  the  railway  routes,  and  broken  by  no  telegraph  station, 
the  Colonel,  to  place  himself  nearer  the  theater  of  events,  ordered  an 
operator,  with  the  necessary  instrument,  to  tap  the  wire  running  to  Point 
Lookout,  near  Chappell's  Point,  and  send  him  prompt  messages. 

The  same  steamer  which  took  down  the  operator  and  two  detectives, 
brought  back  one  of  the  same  detectives  and  a  negro.  This  negro,  taken 
to  Colonel  Baker's  office,  stated  so  positively  that  he  had  seen  Booth  and 
another  man  cross  the  Potomac  in  a  fishing  boat,  while  he  was  looking 
down  upon  them  from  a  bank,  that  the  Colonel  was  at  first  skeptical; 
but,  when  examined,  the  negro  answered  so  readily  and  intelligently, 
recognizing  the  man  from  the  photographs,  that  Baker  knew  at  last  he 
had  the  true  scent. 

Straightway  he  sent  to  General  Hancock  for  twenty-five  men,  and 
while  the  order  was  going  drew  down  his  coast  survey  maps,  with  that 
quick  detective  intuition  amounting  almost  to  inspiration.  He  cast  upon 
the  probable  route  and  destination  of  the  refugees,  as  well  as  the  point 
where  he  would  soonest  strike  them.  Booth,  he  knew,  would  not  keep 
along  the  coast,  with  frequent  deep  rivers  to  cross,  nor,  indeed,  in  any 
direction  east  of  Richmond,  where  he  was  liable  at  any  time  to  cross  the 
lines  of  occupation;  nor,  being  lame,  could  he  ride  on  horseback,  so  as 
to  place  himself  very  far  westward  of  his  point  of  debarkation  in  Virginia. 
But  he  would  travel  in  a  direct  course  from  Bluff  Point,  where  he  crossed 
to  Eastern  Maryland,  and  this  would  take  him  through  Port  Royal,  on 
the  Rappahannock  River,  in  time  to  be  intercepted  by  the  outgoing  cav- 
alrymen. 

When,  therefore,  twenty-five  men,  under  one  Lieutenant  Dogherty, 
arrived  at  his  office  doors,  Baker  placed  the  whole  under  control  of  his 
former  Lieutenant-Colonel,  E.  J.  Conger,  and  of  his  cousin,  Lieutenant 
L.  B.  Baker — the  first  of  Ohio,  the  last  of  New  York — and  bade  them 
go  with  all  dispatch  to  Belle  Plain,  on  the  Lower  Potomac,  there  to  dis- 
embark and  scour  the  country  faithfully  around  Port  Royal,  but  not  to 
return  unless  they  captured  their  men. 

Quitting  Washington  at  two  o'clock  p.  m.,  on  Monday,  the  detectives 
and  cavalrymen  disembarked  at  Belle  Plain,  on  the  border  of  Stafford 
County,  at  ten  o'clock,  in  the  darkness.  Belle  Plain  is  simply  the  nearest 
landing  to  Fredericksburg,  seventy  miles  from  Washington  City,  and 
located  upon  Potomac  Creek.  It  is  a  wharf  and  warehouse  merely,  and 
here  the  steamer  John  S.  Ide  stopped  and  made  fast,  while  the  party  gal- 


The  Assassination  of   Cza.r  Alexander  I. 


Attempt  to  Assassinate  Emperor  Willia.r\  I.  of  Gerrna.ny 


The  Chicago  Anarchists  of  1886 

Adolph  Fischer  Louis  Lingg,  the  Bomb-Marker  Avigvist  Spies 

Micha.el  Schwa.b  Mrs.  Lucy  Parsons  Sennviel  Fielden 

Albert  R.  Pa.rsorvs  Osce^r  W.  Neebe 


Rudolph  Schn-A \jbelt 
The  Bomb-Thrower  of  the  CHica-go  Ha.yma.rket 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  483 

loped  off  in  the  darkness.  Conger  and  Baker  kept  ahead,  riding  up  to 
farm  houses  and  questioning  the  inmates,  pretending  to  be  in  search  of 
the  Maryland  gentlemen  belonging  to  the  party.  But  nobody  had  seen 
the  parties  described,  and  after  a  futile  ride  on  the  Fredericksburg  road, 
they  turned  shortly  to  the  east,  and  kept  up  their  baffled  inquiries  all  the 
way  to  Port  Conway,  on  the  Rappahannock. 

On  Tuesday  morning  they  presented  themselves  at  the  Port  Royal 
Ferry,  and  inquired  of  the  ferryman,  while  he  was  taking  them  over  in 
squads  of  seven  at  a  time,  if  he  had  seen  any  two  such  men.  Continuing 
their  inquiries  at  Port  Royal,  they  found  one  Rollins,  a  fisherman,  who 
referred  them  to  a  negro,  named  Lucas,  as  having  driven  two  men  a 
short  distance  toward  Bowling  Green,  in  a  wagon.  It  was  found  that 
these  men  answered  to  the  description,  Booth  having  a  crutch,  as  previ- 
ously ascertained. 

The  day  before  Booth  and  Harold  had  applied  at  Port  Conway  for 
the  general  ferry-boat,  but  the  ferryman  was  then  fishing,  and  would  not 
desist  for  the  inconsiderable  fare  of  only  two  persons ;  but  to  their  sup- 
posed good  fortune  a  lot  of  Confederate  cavalrymen  just  then  came  along, 
who  threatened  the  ferryman  with  a  shot  in  the  head  if  he  did  not  in- 
stantly bring  across  his  craft  and  transport  the  entire  party.  These 
cavalrymen  were  of  Mosby's  disbanded  command,  returning  from  Fair- 
fax Court-house  to  their  homes  in  Caroline  County.  Their  captain  was 
on  his  way  to  visit  a  sweetheart  at  Bowling  Green,  and  he  had  so  far 
taken  Booth  under  his  patronage  that,  when  the  latter  was  haggling  with 
Lucas  for  a  team,  he  offered  both  Booth  and  Harold  the  use  of  his  horse 
to  ride  and  walk  alternately. 

This  is  the  court-house  town  of  Caroline  County,  a  small  and  scat- 
tered place,  having  within  it  an  ancient  tavern,  no  longer  used  for  other 
than  lodging  purposes ;  but  here  they  hauled  from  his  bed  the  captain 
aforesaid,  and  bade  him  dress  himself.  As  soon  as  he  comprehended  the 
matter  he  became  pallid,  and  eagerly  narrated  the  facts  in  his  possession. 
Booth,  to  his  knowledge,  was  then  lying  at  the  house  of  one  Garrett,  which 
they  had  passed,  and  Harold  had  departed  the  existing  day  with  the  inten- 
tion of  rejoining  him. 

Taking  this  captain  along  for  a  guide,  the  worn-out  horsemen  re- 
traced their  steps,  though  some  were  so  haggard  and  wasted  with  travel 
that  they  had  to  be  kicked  into  intelligence  before  they  could  climb  to  their 
saddles.  The  objects  of  the  chase  thus  at  hand,  the  detectives,  full  of 
sanguine  purpose,  hurried  the  cortege  so  well  along  that  by  two  o'clock 
early  morning  all  halted  at  Garrett's  gate.  In  the  pale  moonlight,  three 


484  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

hundred  yards  from  the  main  road,  to  the  left,  a  plain  old  farm  house 
looked  grayly  through  the  environing  locusts.  It  was  worn,  and  white- 
washed, and  two-storied,  and  its  half-human  windows  glowered  down 
upon  the  silent  cavalrymen  like  watching  owls,  which  stood  as  sentries 
over  some  horrible  secret  asleep  within. 

Dimly  seen  behind,  an  old  barn,  high  and  weather-beaten,  faced  the 
roadside  gate,  for  the  house  itself  lay  to  the  left  of  its  own  lane;  and 
nestling  beneath  the  barn  a  few  long  corn-cribs  lay,  with  a  cattle-shed 
at  hand. 

In  the  dead  stillness,  Baker  dismounted  and  forced  the  outer  gate, 
Conger  kept  close  behind  him,  and  the  horsemen  followed  cautiously. 
They  made  no  noise  in  the  soft  clay,  nor  broke  the  all-foreboding  silence 
anywhere,  till  the  second  gate  swung  open  gratingly,  and  even  then  no 
hoarse  or  shrill  response  came  back,  save  distant  croaking,  as  of  frogs 
or  owls,  or  the  whiz  of  some  passing  night-hawk.  So  they  surrounded 
the  pleasant  old  homestead,  each  horseman,  carbine  in  poise,  adjusted 
under  the  grove  of  locusts,  so  as  to  inclose  the  dwelling  with  a  circle  of 
fire.  After  a  pause,  Baker  rode  to  the  kitchen  door  on  the  side,  and,  dis- 
mounting, rapped  and  hallooed  lustily.  An  old  man,  in  drawers  and  night- 
shirt, hastily  undrew  the  bolts,  and  stood  on  the  threshold,  peering  shiv- 
eringly  into  the  darkness. 

Baker  seized  him  by  the  throat  at  once,  and  held  a  pistol  to  his  ear. 

"Who  is  it  ?"  cried  the  old  man. 

"Where  are  the  men  who  stay  with  you?"  challenged  Baker.  "If 
you  prevaricate,  you  are  a  dead  man!" 

The  old  fellow  was  so  paralyzed  that  he  stammered  and  shook  and 
said  not  a  word. 

"Go  light  a  candle,"  cried  Baker,  sternly,  "and  be  quick  about  it." 

The  trembling  old  man  obeyed,  and  in  a  moment  the  imperfect  rays 
flared  upon  his  whitening  hairs  and  bluishly  pallid  face.  Then  the  ques- 
tion was  repeated,  backed  up  by  the  glimmering  pistol.  "Where  are 
these  men?" 

The  old  man  held  to  the  wall,  and  his  knees  smote  each  other.  "They 
are  gone,"  he  said.  "We  haven't  got  them  in  the  house;  I  assure  you 
that  they  are  gone." 

In  the  interim  Conger  had  also  entered,  and  while  the  household  and 
its  invaders  were  thus  in  weird  tableau,  a  young  man  appeared,  as  if  he 
had  risen  from  the  ground.  "Father,"  he  said,  "we  had  better  tell  the 
truth  about  the  matter.  Those  men  whom  you  seek,  gentlemen,  are  in 
the  barn,  I  know.  They  went  there  to  sleep." 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  485 

Leaving  one  soldier  to  guard  the  old  man,  all  the  rest,  with  cocked 
pistols  at  the  young  man's  head,  followed  on  to  the  barn.  It  lay  a  hun- 
dred yards  from  the  house,  the  front  barn-door  facing  the  west  gable,  and 
was  an  old  and  spacious  structure,  with  floors  only  a  trifle  above  the 
ground  level. 

The  troops  dismounted,  were  stationed  at  regular  intervals  around  it, 
and  ten  yards  distant  at  every  point,  four  special  guards  placed  to  com- 
mand the  door,  and  all  with  weapons  in  supple  preparation,  while  Baker 
and  Conger  went  direct  to  the  door.  It  had  a  padlock  upon  it,  and  the 
key  of  this  Baker  secured  at  once.  In  the  interval  of  silence  that  ensued, 
the  rustling  of  planks  and  straw  was  heard  inside,  as  of  persons  rising 
from  sleep. 

At  the  same  moment  Baker  shouted : 

"To  the  persons  in  this  barn  I  have  a  proposal  to  make.  We  are 
about  to  send  in  to  you  the  son  of  the  man  in  whose  custody  you  are 
found.  Either  surrender  to  him  your  arms,  and  then  give  yourself  up,  or 
we'll  set  fire  to  the  place.  We  mean  to  take  you  both,  or  to  have  a  bon- 
fire and  shooting  match." 

No  answer  came  to  this.  The  lad,  John  M.  Garrett,  who  was  in 
deadly  fear,  was  here  pushed  through  the  door  by  a  sudden  opening  of  it, 
and  immediately  Lieutenant  Baker  locked  the  door  on  the  outside.  The 
boy  was  heard  to  state  his  appeal  in  undertones.  Booth  replied : 

" you.    Get  out  of  here.    You  have  betrayed  me." 

At  the  same  time  he  placed  his  hand  in  his  pocket,  as  if  for  a  pistol. 
A  remonstrance  followed ;  but  the  boy  slipped  on  and  over  the  reopened 
portal,  reporting  that  his  errand  had  failed,  and  that  he  dare  not  enter 
again.  All  this  time  the  candle  brought  from  the  house  to  the  barn  was 
burning  close  beside  the  two  detectives,  rendering  it  easy  for  any  one 
within  to  have  shot  them  dead.  This  observed,  the  light  was  cautiously 
removed,  and  everybody  took  care  to  keep  out  of  its  reflection.  The 
boy  was  placed  at  a  remote  point,  and  the  summons  repeated  by  Baker: 

"You  must  surrender  inside  there !  Give  up  your  arms  and  appear ; 
there's  no  chance  for  escape.  We  give  you  five  minutes  to  make  up  your 
mind." 

A  bold,  clarion  reply  came  from  within,  so  strong  as  to  be  heard  at 
the  house  door: 

"Who  are  you,  and  what  do  you  want  with  us?" 

Baker  again  urged : 

"We  want  you  to  deliver  up  your  arms,  and  become  our  prisoners." 

"But  who  are  you  ?"  hallooed  the  same  strong  voice. 


486  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

"That  makes  no  difference;  we  know  who  you  are,  and  we  want 
you.  We  have  here  fifty  men,  armed  with  carbines  and  pistols.  You 
cannot  escape." 

There  was  a  long  pause,  and  then  Booth  said : 

"Captain,  this  is  a  hard  case,  I  swear.  Perhaps  I  am  being  taken 
by  my  own  friends." 

No  reply  from  the  detectives. 

"Well,  give  us  a  little  time  to  consider." 

"Very  well;  take  time." 

Here  ensued  a  pause.  In  this  little  interval  Booth  made  the  resolve 
to  die.  But  he  was  cool  and  steady  to  the  end.  Baker,  after  a  lapse, 
hailed  for  the  last  time: 

"Well,  we  have  waited  long  enough ;  surrender  your  arms  and  come 
out,  or  we'll  fire  the  barn." 

Booth  answered:  "I  am  but  a  cripple — a  one-legged  man.  With- 
draw your  forces  one  hundred  yards  from  the  door,  and  I  will  come. 
Give  me  a  chance  for  my  life,  Captain.  I  will  never  be  taken  alive !" 

"We  did  not  come  here  to  fight,  but  to  capture  you.  I  say  again 
appear,  or  the  barn  shall  be  fired." 

Then,  with  a  long  breath,  which  could  be  heard  outside,  Booth  cried, 
in  sudden  calmness,  still  invisible,  as  were  to  him  his  enemies : 

"Well,  then,  my  brave  boys,  prepare  a  stretcher  for  me!" 

There  was  a  pause  repeated,  broken  by  low  discussions  within  be- 
tween Booth  and  his  associate,  the  former  saying,  as  if  in  answer  to  some 

remonstrance  or  appeal :  "Get  away  from  me.  You  are  a coward, 

and  mean  to  leave  me  in  my  distress ;  but  go — go !  I  don't  want  you  to 
stay — I  won't  have  you  stay !"  Then  he  shouted  aloud : 

"There's  a  man  inside  who  wants  to  surrender." 

"Let  him  come,  if  he  will  bring  his  arms." 

Here  Harold,  rattling  the  door,  said:  "Let  me  out;  open  the  door; 
1  want  to  surrender." 

"Hand  out  your  arms,  then." 

"I  have  not  got  any." 

"Yeu  are  the  man  who  carried  the  carbine  yesterday ;  bring  it  out !" 

"I  haven't  got  any." 

This  was  said  in  a  whining  tone,  and  with  an  almost  visible  shiver. 
Booth  cried  aloud  at  this  hesitation: 

"He  hasn't  got  any  arms ;  they  are  mine,  and  I  have  kept  them." 

"Well,  he  carried  the  carbine,  and  must  bring  it  out." 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  487 

"On  the  word  and  honor  of  a  gentleman,  he  has  no  arms  with  him. 
They  are  mine,  and  I  have  got  them." 

At  this  time  Harold  was  quite  up  to  the  door,  within  whispering 
distance  of  Baker.  The  latter  told  him  to  put  out  his  hands  to  be  hand- 
cuffed, at  the  same  time  drawing  open  the  door  a  little  distance.  Harold 
thrust  forth  his  hands,  when  Baker,  seizing  him,  jerked  him  into  the 
night,  and  straightway  delivered  him  over  to  a  deputation  of  cavalrymen. 
Then  Booth  made  his  last  appeal,  in  the  same  clear,  unbroken  voice : 

"Captain,  give  me  a  chance.  Draw  off  your  men,  and  I  will  fight 
them  singly.  I  could  have  killed  you  six  times  to-night,  but  I  believe  you 
to  be  a  brave  man,  and  would  not  murder  you.  Give  a  lame  man  a  show." 

Ere  he  ceased  speaking,  Colonel  Conger  slipped  around  to  the  rear, 
drew  some  loose  straws  through  a  crack,  and  lit  a  match  upon  them. 
They  were  dry  and  blazed  up  in  an  instant,  carrying  a  sheet  of  smoke 
and  flame  through  the  parted  planks. 

Behind  the  blaze,  with  his  eye  to  a  crack,  Conger  saw  Wilkes  Booth 
standing  upright  upon  a  crutch.  At  the  gleam  of  the  fire,  Wilkes  dropped 
his  crutch  and  carbine,  and  on  both  hands  crept  to  the  spot  to  espy  the 
incendiary  and  shoot  him  dead.  His  eyes  were  lustrous,  like  fever,  and 
swelled  and  rolled  in  terrible  beauty,  while  his  teeth  were  fixed,  and  he 
wore  the  expression  of  one  in  the  calmness  before  frenzy.  In  vain  he 
peered,  with  vengeance  in  his  look ;  the  blaze  that  made  him  visible  con- 
cealed his  enemy.  A  second  he  turned  glaring  at  the  fire,  as  if  to  leap 
upon  it  and  extinguish  it,  but  it  had  made  such  headway  that  this  was  a 
futile  impulse,  and  he  dismissed  it.  Then  he  pushed  for  the  door,  carbine 
in  poise. 

At  that  moment  Sergeant  Boston  Corbett  fired,  and  the  assassin  fell 
headlong  to  the  floor,  lying  there  in  a  heap,  shot  through  the  throat. 

"He  has  shot  himself,"  cried  Baker,  unaware  of  the  source  of  the 
report,  and,  rushing  in,  he  grasped  his  arm,  to  guard  against  any  feint  or 
strategy.  A  moment  convinced  him  that  further  struggle  with  the  prone 
flesh  was  useless.  Booth  did  not  move,  nor  breathe,  nor  gasp.  Conger 
and  the  two  sergeants  now  entered,  and,  taking  up  the  body,  they  bore  it 
in  haste  from  the  advancing  flame,  and  laid  it  without  upon  the  grass. 

A  mattress  was  brought  down,  on  which  they  placed  him,  and 
propped  his  head,  and  gave  him  water  and  brandy.  The  women  of  the 
household  dipped  a  rag  in  brandy  and  water,  and,  this  being  put  between 
Booth's  teeth,  he  sucked  it  greedily.  When  he  was  able  to  articulate 
again,  he  muttered  to  Baker  the  same  words,  with  an  addendum : 

"Tell  mother  I  died  for  my  country.    I  thought  I  did  for  the  best." 


488  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

Baker  repeated  this,  saying  at  the  same  time,  "Booth,  do  I  repeat  it 
correctly  ?"  Booth  nodded  his  head. 

A  soldier  had  been  meanwhile  dispatched  for  a  doctor,  but  the  route 
and  return  was  quite  six  miles,  and  the  murderer  was  sinking  fast.  Final- 
ly the  doctor  arrived,  in  time  to  be  useless.  Just  at  his  coming,  Booth 
had  asked  to  have  his  hands  raised  and  shown  him.  They  were  so  par- 
alyzed that  he  did  not  know  their  location.  When  they  were  displayed,  he 
muttered,  with  a  sad  lethargy,  "Useless — useless!"  These  were  the  last 
words  he  ever  uttered. 

His  jaw  drew  spasmodically  and  obliquely  downward;  his  eyeballs 
rolled  and  began  to  swell ;  lividness,  like  a  horrible  shadow,  fastened  upon 
him,  and  with  a  sort  of  gurgle,  and  sudden  gasp,  he  stretched  his  feet, 
threw  his  head  back,  and  passed  away. 

They  sewed  him  up  in  a  saddle-blanket.  Harold,  meantime,  had  been 
tied  to  a  tree,  but  was  now  released  for  the  march.  Colonel  Conger 
pushed  on  immediately  for  Washington;  the  cortege  was  to  follow. 
Booth's  only  arms  were  his  carbine,  knife  and  two  revolvers.  They  found 
about  him  bills  of  exchange,  Canada  money,  and  a  diary.  A  horse,  the 
relic  of  former  generations,  was  impressed  and  harnessed  to  a  shaky 
wagon,  and  in  the  latter  they  laid  the  discolored  corpse.  The  corpse  was 
tied  with  ropes  around  the  legs,  and  made  fast  to  the  wagon  side. 

Harold's  legs  were  tied  to  stirrups,  and  he  was  placed  in  the  center 
of  four  cavalrymen.  When  the  wagon  started,  Booth's  wound,  now 
scarcely  dribbling,  began  to  run  anew.  The  blood  fell  through  the  crack 
of  the  wagon,  and  fell  dripping  upon  the  axle. 

Progress  was  slow,  but  toward  noon  the  cortege  filed  through  Port 
Royal,  where  the  citizens  came  out  to  ask  the  matter,  and  why  a  man's 
body,  covered  with  sombre  blankets,  was  going  by  with  so  great  escort. 
They  were  told  that  it  was  a  wounded  Confederate,  and  so  held  their 
tongues.  The  little  ferry,  again  in  requisition,  took  them  over  by  squads, 
and  they  pushed  from  Port  Conway  to  Belle  Plain,  which  they  reached 
in  the  middle  of  the  afternoon. 

At  Washington,  high  and  low  turned  out  to  look  on  Booth.  Only 
a  few  were  permitted  to  see  his  corpse  for  purposes  of  recognition.  It 
was  fairly  preserved,  though  on  one  side  of  the  face  distorted,  and  look- 
ing blue  like  death,  and  wildly  bandit-like. 

Finally,  the  Secretary  of  War,  without  instructions  of  any  kind, 
committed  to  Colonel  Baker,  of  the  Secret  Service,  the  stark  corpse  of  J. 
Wilkes  Booth,  and  it  was  taken  to  the  old  Penitentiary,  adjoining  the 
Arsenal  grounds.  The  building  had  not  been  used  as  a  prison  for  some 


ABRA.HAM    LINCOLN.  480 

years  previously.  The  Ordnance  Department  had  filled  the  ground-floor 
cells  with  fixed  ammunition — one  of  the  largest  of  these  cells  was  selected 
as  the  burial  place  of  Booth — the  ammunition  was  removed,  a  large  flat 
stone  lifted  from  its  place,  and  a  rude  grave  dug;  the  body  was  dropped 
in,  the  grave  filled  up,  the  stone  replaced,  and  there  rests  to  this  hour  all 
that  remained  of  John  Wilkes  Booth. 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

EXECUTION  OF  MRS.  SURRATT,  ATZEROTH,  HAROLD  AND  PAYNE  IN  THE 
JAIL  YARD  AT  WASHINGTON — SCENES  AND  INCIDENTS — THOUSANDS 
OF  SOLDIERS  GUARD  THE  PRISON  AND  THE  VICINITY — How  THE 
CULPRITS  DIED. 


The  execution  of  Mrs.  Surratt,  Atzeroth,  Harold  and  Payne  occurred 
at  Washington  on  the  9th  of  July,  1865,  less  than  three  months  after  the 
assassination  of  President  Lincoln,  Major  General  Hancock  having  charge 
of  all  arrangements.  It  was,  in  effect,  a  military  execution,  about  three 
thousand  troops  being  assigned  the  task  of  guarding  the  jail  and  vicinity. 

Atzeroth  made  a  partial  confession  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Butler,  a  fews 
hours  before  his  execution.  He  stated  that  he  took  a  room  at  the  Kirk- 
wood  House  on  Thursday  afternoon,  before  the  murder  of  the  President, 
and  was  engaged  in  endeavoring  to  get  a  pass  to  Richmond.  He  then 
heard  the  President  was  to  be  taken  to  the  theater  and  there  to  be  cap- 
tured. He  said  he  understood  that  Booth  was  to  rent  the  theater  for 
the  purpose  of  carrying  out  the  plot  to  capture  the  President.  He  stated 
that  Harold  brought  the  pistol  and  knife  to  the  Kirkwood  House,  and 
that  he  (Atzeroth)  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  attempted  assassination 
of  Andrew  Johnson. 

Booth  intended  that  Harold  should  assassinate  Johnson  and  he 
wanted  him  (Atzeroth)  to  back  him  up  and  give  him  courage.  Booth 
thought  that  Harold  had  more  pluck  than  Atzeroth. 

He  alluded  to  the  meeting  at  the  restaurant  about  the  middle  of 
March.  He  said  Booth,  Harold,  Payne,  Arnold  and  himself  were  present, 
and  it  was  then  concerted  that  Mr.  Lincoln  should  be  captured  and  taken 
to  Richmond. 

They  heard  that  Lincoln  was  to  visit  a  camp  near  Washington,  and 
the  plan  was  that  they  should  proceed  there  and  capture  the  coach  and 
horses  containing  Lincoln.  He  denied  that  he  was  in  favor  of  assassinat- 
ing Lincoln,  but  was  willing  to  assist  in  his  capture. 

He  stated,  however,  that  he  knew  Lincoln  was  to  be  assassinated 
about  half-past  eight  o'clock  on  the  evening  of  the  occurrence,  but  was 
afraid  to  make  it  known,  as  he  feared  Booth  would  kill  him  if  he  did  so. 

490 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  491 

He  said  that  slavery  caused  his  sympathies  to  be  with  the  South.  He 
had  heard  a  sermon  preached  which  stated  that  a  curse  on  the  negro  race 
had  turned  them  black.  He  always  hated  the  negroes,  and  thought 
they  should  be  kept  in  ignorance. 

Booth  had  promised  him  that  if  their  plan  succeeded  for  the  capture 
of  Lincoln  they  should  all  be  rich  men,  and  they  would  become  great. 
The  prisoners  would  all  be  exchanged,  and  the  independence  of  the  South 
would  be  recognized,  and  their  cause  be  triumphant. 

At  fifteen  minutes  before  one  o'clock  General  Hartranft  informed  the 
newspaper  men  to  be  in  readiness  for  the  prison  doors  to  be  opened. 
About  1 1  a.  m.  the  prison  yard  was  thrown  open  to  those  having  passes, 
and  about  fifty  entered.  The  first  object  in  view  was  the  scaffold,  which 
was  erected  at  the  northeast  corner  of  the  penitentiary  yard,  and  con- 
sisted of  a  simple  wooden  structure,  of  very  primitive  appearance,  faced 
about  due  west.  The  platform  was  elevated  about  twelve  feet  from  the 
ground,  and  was  about  twenty  feet  square.  Attached  to  the  main  platform 
were  the  drops,  two  in  number,  on  which  the  criminals  stood.  At  the 
moment  of  execution,  these  drops  were  connected  with  the  main  plat- 
form, by  means  of  large  hinges,  four  to  each  drop. 

The  drops  were  supported  by  a  post,  which  rested  on  a  heavy  piece  of 
timber  placed  on  the  ground,  and  so  arranged  that  two  soldiers  stationed 
at  the  rear  of  the  scaffold  instantaneously  detached  the  two  supports 
from  their  positions  by  means  of  pressing  two  poles,  which  occupied  a 
horizontal  position,  the  action  of  which  dislodged  the  props  of  the  scaf- 
fold and  permitted  the  drops  to  fall. 

The  gallows  proper  was  divided  into  two  parts  by  means  of  a  per- 
pendicular piece  of  timber,  resting  on  the  platform,  and  reaching  up  to  the 
cross-beam  of  the  gallows.  Two  ropes  hung  on  either  side  of  the  piece 
of  timber  mentioned.  They  were  wound  around  the  cross-beam,  and 
contained  large  knots  and  nooses  at  the  lower  end.  The  platform  was 
ascended  by  means  of  a  flight  of  steps,  thirteen  in  number,  erected  at  the 
rear  of  the  scaffold,  and  guarded  on  either  side  by  a  railing,  which  also 
extended  around  the  platform.  The  platform  was  sustained  by  nine 
heavy  uprights,  about  which  rose  the  two  heavy  pieces  of  timber  which 
supported  the  cross-beam  and  constituted  the  gallows.  The  entire  plat- 
form was  capable  of  holding  conveniently  about  thirty  people,  and  was 
about  half  full  at  the  time  of  the  execution. 

The  executioners  were  all  regular  soldiers,  and  did  their  work  well. 
The  rope  was  furnished  from  the  navy  yard,  and  was  one  and  a  half  inches 
in  circumference,  and  composed  of  twenty  strands. 


492 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 


The  graves  were  dug  close  to  the  scaffold,  and  next  to  the  prison 
wall.  They  were  four  in  number,  and  were  about  three  feet  and  a  half 
deep,  in  a  dry,  clayey  soil,  and  about  seven  feet  long  and  three  wide. 
Four  pine  boxes,  similar  to  those  used  for  packing  guns  in,  stood  between 
the  graves  and  the  scaffold.  These  were  for  coffins,  both  being  in  full 
view  of  the  prisoners  as  they  emerged  from  their  cells,  and  before  them 
until  they  commenced  the  dreadful  ascent  of  those  thirteen  steps. 

About  a  thousand  soldiers  were  in  the  yard  and  upon  the  high  wall 
around  it,  which  is  wide  enough  for  sentries  to  patrol  it.  The  sun's  rays 
made  it  very  oppressive,  and  the  walls  kept  off  the  little  breeze  that  was 
stirring.  There  was  no  shade,  and  men  huddled  together  along  the  walls 
and  around  the  pump  to  discuss  with  one  another  the  prospect  of  a  re- 
prieve or  delay  for  Mrs.  Surratt.  But  few  hoped  for  it,  though  some 
were  induced  by  Mrs.  Surratt's  counsel  to  believe  she  would  not  be  hanged 
that  day.  When  one  of  them  came  out  and  saw  the  four  ropes  hanging 
from  the  beam,  he  exclaimed  to  one  of  the  soldiers :  "My  God !  they  are 
not  going  to  hang  all  four,  are  they  ?" 

The  drops  were  tried  at  1 1 130  with  three-hundred-pound  weights 
upon  them,  to  see  if  they  would  work.  One  fell  all  right ;  one  hung  part 
way  down,  and  the  hatchet  and  saw  were  brought  into  play.  The  next 
time  they  were  all  right. 

At  12 140  four  arm-chairs  were  brought  out  and  placed  upon  the  scaf- 
fold. The  newspaper  correspondents  and  reporters  were  admitted  to  a 
position  about  thirty  feet  from  the  gallows,  and  about  I  no  the  heavy 
door  in  front  of  the  cells  was  swung  upon  its  hinges  for  the  hundredth 
time  within  an  hour,  and  a  few  reporters,  with  General  Hancock,  passed 
in  and  through  to  the  yard.  General  Hancock  for  the  last  time  took  a 
survey  of  the  preparations,  and,  being  satisfied  that  everything  was  ready, 
re-entered  the  prison  building,  and  in  a  few  minutes  the  solemn  procession 
marched  down  the  steps  of  the  back  door  and  into  the  yard. 

Mrs.  Surratt  cast  her  eyes  upward  upon  the  scaffold,  for  a  few  mo- 
ments, with  a  look  of  curiosity,  combined  with  dread.  One  glimpse,  and 
her  eyes  fell  to  the  ground,  and  she  walked  along  mechanically,  her  head 
drooping,  and  if  she  had  not  been  supported  would  have  fallen. 

She  ascended  the  scaffold,  and  was  led  to  an  arm-chair,  in  which  she 
was  seated.  An  umbrella  was  held  over  her  by  the  two  holy  fathers, 
to  protect  her  from  the  sun,  whose  rays  shot  down  like  blasts  from  a  fiery 
furnace.  She  was  attired  in  a  black  bombazine  dress,  black  alpaca  bon- 
net, with  black  veil,  which  she  wore  over  her  face  till  she  was  seated  on  the 
chair.  During  the  reading  of  the  order  for  the  execution,  by  General 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  493 

Hartranft,  the  priests  held  a  small  crucifix  before  her,  which  she  kissed 
fervently  several  times. 

She  first  looked  around  at  the  scene  before  her,  then  closed  her  eyes 
and  seemed  engaged  in  silent  prayer.  The  reading  and  the  announcement 
of  the  clergymen  in  behalf  of  the  other  prisoners  having  been  made, 
Colonel  McCall,  assisted  by  the  other  officers,  proceeded  to  remove  her 
bonnet,  pinion  her  elbows,  and  tie  strips  of  cotton  stuff  around  her  dress 
below  the  knees.  This  done,  the  rope  was  placed  around  her  neck  and 
her  face  covered  with  a  white  cap  reaching  down  to  the  shoulders. 

When  they  were  pinioning  her  arms,  she  turned  her  head,  and  made 
some  remarks  to  the  officers  in  a  low  tone,  which  could  not  be  heard.  It 
appeared  they  had  tied  her  elbows  too  tight,  for  they  slackened  the  band- 
age slightly,  and  then  awaited  the  final  order.  All  the  prisoners  were 
prepared  thus  at  the  same  time,  and  the  preparations  of  each  were  com- 
pleted at  about  the  same  moment;  so  that  when  Mrs.  Surratt  was  thus 
pinioned,  she  stood  scarcely  ten  seconds,  supported  by  those  standing 
near  her,  when  General  Hartranft  gave  the  signal,  by  clapping  his  hands 
twice,  for  both  drops  to  fall.  As  soon  as  the  second  and  last  signal 
was  given,  both  fell,  and  Mrs.  Surratt,  with  a  jerk,  fell  to  the  full  length 
of  the  rope.  She  was  leaning  over  when  the  drop  fell,  and  this  gave  a 
swinging  motion  to  her  body,  which  lasted  several  minutes  before  it  as- 
sumed a  perpendicular  position.  Her  death  was  instantaneous ;  she  died 
without  a  struggle.  The  only  muscular  movement  discernible  was  a 
slight  contraction  of  the  left  arm,  which  she  seemed  to  try  to  disengage 
from  behind  her  as  the  drop  fell. 

After  being  suspended  thirty  minutes,  she  was  cut  down,  and  placed 
in  a  square  wooden  box  or  coffin,  in  the  clothes  in  which  she  died. 

Payne  died  as  he  lived,  at  least  as  he  had  done  since  his  arrest,  bold, 
calm,  and  thoroughly  composed.  The  only  tremor  exhibited  by  this  ex- 
traordinary man  during  the  terrible  ordeal  of  the  execution  was  an  invol- 
untary vibration  of  the  muscles  of  his  legs  after  the  drop  fell.  He  was 
next  in  order  to  Mrs.  Surratt  in  the  procession  of  the  criminals  from  their 
cells  to  the  place  of  execution. 

He  was  supported  on  one  side  by  his  spiritual  adviser,  and  on  the 
other  by  a  soldier,  although  he  needed  no  such  assistance,  for  he  walked 
erect  and  upright,  and  retained  the  peculiar  piercing  expression  of  the 
eye  that  had  ever  characterized  him.  He  was  dressed  in  a  blue  flannel 
shirt,  and  pants  of  the  same  material.  His  brawny  neck  was  entirely  ex- 
posed, and  he  wore  a  new  straw  hat.  He  ascended  the  steps  leading  to 


494  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

the  scaffold  with  the  greatest  ease,  and  took  his  seat  on  the  drop  with  as 
much  sang  froid  as  though  sitting  down  to  dinner. 

Once  or  twice  he  addressed  a  few  words  in  an  undertone  to  persons 
close  by  him,  and  occasionally  glanced  at  the  array  of  soldiers  and  civilians 
spread  out  before  him.  A  puff  of  wind  blew  off  his  hat,  and  he  instantly 
turned  around  to  see  where  it  went.  When  it  was  recovered  and  handed 
to  him,  he  intimated  by  gesturing  that  he  no  longer  required  it,  and  it  was 
laid  aside. 

During  the  reading  of  the  sentence  by  General  Hartranft,  just  previ- 
ous to  the  execution,  he  calmly  listened,  and  once  or  twice  glanced  upward 
at  the  gallows,  as  if  inspecting  its  construction.  He  submitted  to  the 
process  of  binding  his  limbs  very  quietly,  and  watched  the  operation  with 
attention. 

His  spiritual  adviser  advanced,  a  few  minutes  previous  to  the  execu- 
tion, and  made  some  remarks  in  Payne's  behalf.  He  thanked  the  different 
officials  for  the  attention  and  kindness  bestowed  on  Payne,  and  exhorted 
the  criminal  in  a  few  impassioned  words  to  give  his  entire  thoughts  to  his 
future  state.  Payne  stood  immovable  as  a  statue  when  the  drop  fell. 
Although  next  to  Harold,  who  died  the  hardest,  he  exhibited  more  bodily 
contortions  than  the  others  while  suspended.  While  the  noose  was  being 
adjusted  to  his  neck,  Payne  raised  his  head,  and  evidently  desired  to  assist 
the  executioner  in  that  delicate  operation. 

Probably  no  one  of  the  criminals  felt  as  great  a  dread  of  the  terrible 
ordeal  through  which  they  were  to  pass  as  young  Harold.  From  the  time 
he  left  his  cell  until  his  soul  was  sent  into  the  presence  of  the  Almighty, 
he  exhibited  the  greatest  emotion,  and  seemed  to  thoroughly  realize  his 
wretched  condition.  His  face  wore  an  indefinable  expression  of  anguish, 
and  at  times  he  trembled  violently.  He  seemed  to  desire  to  engage  in  con- 
versation with  those  around  him  while  sitting  in  the  chair  awaiting  execu- 
tion, and  his  spiritual  adviser  was  assiduous  in  his  attentions  to  the 
wretched  man. 

Harold  was  dressed  in  a  black  cloth  coat  and  light  pants,  and  wore  a 
white  shirt  without  any  collar ;  he  wore  also  a  black  slouch  hat,  which  he 
retained  on  his  head  until  it  was  removed  to  make  room  for  the  white  cap. 
At  times  he  looked  wildly  around,  and  his  face  had  a  haggard,  anxious, 
inquiring  expression.  When  the  drop  fell,  he  exhibited  more  tenacity  of 
life  than  any  of  the  others,  and  he  endeavored  several  times  to  draw  him- 
self up  as  if  for  the  purpose  of  relieving  himself  from  the  rope  by  which 
he  was  suspended. 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  495 

Atzeroth  ascended  the  steps  of  the  scaffold  without  difficulty,  and  took 
his  seat  at  the  south  end  of  the  drop  without  exhibiting  any  particular 
emotion.  He  was  dressed  in  a  dark  gray  coat  and  pants,  and  black  vest 
and  white  linen  shirt,  without  any  collar;  on  his  feet  he  wore  a  pair  of 
woolen  slippers  and  socks.  He  sat  in  such  a  position  that  he  could  see  the 
profiles  of  his  fellow-prisoners,  and  he  had  his  hands  pinioned  behind  him. 
He  wore  no  hat,  but  had  a  white  handkerchief  placed  over  his  head,  with  a 
tuft  of  hair  protruding  from  it  and  spreading  over  his  forehead. 

Directly  behind  him  stood  his  spiritual  adviser,  who  held  an  umbrella 
over  him  to  keep  off  the  burning  rays  of  the  sun.  During  the  reading  of 
the  sentence  by  General  Hartranft,  he  kept  perfectly  quiet,  but  his  face 
wore  an  expression  of  unutterable  woe,  and  he  listened  attentively.  He 
wore  a  thin  mustache  and  small  goatee,  and  his  face  was  pale  and  sallow. 
Once,  and  once  only,  he  glanced  around  at  the  assembled  throng,  and 
occasionally  muttered  incoherent  sentences,  but  he  talked,  while  on  the 
scaffold,  to  no  one  immediately  around  him. 

Just  before  his  execution,  his  spiritual  adviser  advanced  and  stated 
that  Atzeroth  desired  to  return  his  sincere  thanks  to  General  Hartranft 
and  the  other  officials  for  their  many  acts  of  kindness  extended  toward 
him.  He  then  called  on  God  to  forgive  Atzeroth.  He  hoped  that  God 
would  grant  him  a  full  and  free  forgiveness,  and  ended  by  saying:  "May 
the  Lord  God  have  mercy  on  you,  and  grant  you  His  peace." 

The  handkerchief  was  then  taken  from  his  head,  and  he  stood  up, 
facing  the  assembled  audience,  directly  alongside  of  the  instrument  of 
his  death.  His  knees  slightly  trembled,  and  his  legs  were  bent  forward. 
He  stood  for  a  few  moments  the  very  embodiment  of  wretchedness,  and 
then  spoke  a  few  words  in  an  undertone  to  General  Hartranft,  after  which 
he  shook  hands  with  his  spiritual  adviser  and  a  few  others  near  him. 
While  he  was  being  secured  with  bands,  tied  around  his  legs  and  arms,  he 
kept  muttering  to  himself,  as  if  engaged  in  silent  prayer. 

Suddenly  he  broke  forth  with  the  words,  "Gentlemen,  beware  who 
you — "  and  then  stopped,  as  if  with  emotion.  As  the  white  cap  was  being 
placed  over  his  head  he  said,  "Good-by,  gentlemen;  may  we  all  meet  in 
the  other  world.  God  take  me  now."  He  muttered  something  loud 
enough  for  those  close  by  him  to  hear,  just  as  the  drop  fell,  evidently  not 
anticipating  such  an  event  at  that  moment.  He  died  without  apparent 
pain,  and  his  neck  must  have  been  instantly  broken. 

After  hanging  a  few  seconds,  his  stomach  heaved  considerably,  and 
subsequently  his  legs  quivered  a  little.  His  death  appeared  to  be  the  easi- 
est of  any  of  the  criminals,  with  the  exception  of  Mrs.  Surratt,  who  did 


496  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 

not  apparently  suffer  at  all.  After  hanging  half  an  hour,  Atzeroth's  body 
was  taken  down,  it  being  the  first  one  lowered,  and  an  examination  made 
by  Surgeons  Otis,  Woodward,  and  Porter. 

About  half-past  eight  o'clock  that  morning,  Miss  Surratt,  accom- 
panied by  a  female  friend,  visited  the  White  House  for  the  purpose  of  ob- 
taining an  interview  with  the  President.  President  Johnson  having  given 
orders  that  he  would  receive  no  one,  the  door-keeper  stopped  Miss  Sur- 
ratt at  the  foot  of  the  steps  leading  up  to  the  President's  office,  and  would 
not  permit  her  to  proceed  further.  She  then  asked  permission  to  see 
General  Mussey,  the  President's  Military  Secretary,  who  promptly  an- 
swered the  summons. 

As  soon  as  the  General  made  his  appearance,  Miss  Surratt  threw 
herself  upon  her  knees  before  him,  and,  catching  him  by  the  coat,  with  loud 
sobs  and  streaming  eyes,  implored  him  to  assist  her  in  obtaining  a  hearing 
with  the  President. 

General  Mussey,  in  as  tender  a  manner  as  possible,  informed  Miss 
Surratt  that  he  could  not  comply  with  her  request,  as  President  Johnson's 
orders  were  imperative,  and  he  would  receive  no  one. 

Upon  General  Mussey's  returning  to  his  office,  Miss  Surratt  threw 
herself  upon  the  stair  steps,  where  she  remained  a  considerable  length  of 
time,  sobbing  aloud  in  the  greatest  anguish,  protesting  her  mother's  inno- 
cence, and  imploring  every  one  who  came  near  her  to  intercede  in  her 
mother's  behalf.  While  thus  weeping,  she  declared  her  mother  was  too 
good  and  kind  to  be  guilty  of  the  enormous  crime  of  which  she  was  con- 
victed, and  asserted  that  if  her  mother  was  put  to  death  she  wished  to 
die  also. 

The  scene  was  heart-rending,  and  many  of  those  who  witnessed  it, 
including  a  number  of  hardy  soldiers,  were  moved  to  tears.  Miss  Surratt, 
having  become  quiet,  was  finally  persuaded  to  take  a  seat  in  the  East 
Room,  and  there  she  remained  for  several  hours,  jumping  up  from  her 
seat  each  time  the  front  door  of  the  mansion  was  opened,  evidently  in 
hopes  of  seeing  some  one  enter  who  could  be  of  service  to  her  in  obtain- 
ing the  desired  interview  with  the  President,  or  that  they  were  the  bearers 
of  good  news  to  her. 

Two  of  Harold's  sisters,  dressed  in  full  mourning  and  heavily  veiled, 
made  their  appearance  at  the  White  House  shortly  after  Miss  Surratt,  for 
the  purpose  of  interceding  with  the  President  in  behalf  of  their  brother. 
Failing  to  see  the  President,  they  addressed  a  note  to  Mrs.  Johnson,  and 
expressed  a  hope  that  she  would  not  turn  a  deaf  ear  to  their  pleadings. 
Mrs.  Johnson  being  quite  sick,  it  was  thought  expedient  by  the  ushers 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  497 

not  to  deliver  the  note,  when,  as  a  last  expedient,  the  ladies  asked  permis- 
sion to  forward  a  note  to  Mrs.  Patterson,  the  President's  daughter,  which 
privilege  was  not  granted,  as  Mrs.  Patterson  was  also  quite  indisposed. 

It  was  a  noticeable  incident  of  the  execution  that  very  few  Govern- 
ment officials  were  present,  the  spectators  being  nearly  all  connected  with 
the  trial  in  some  capacity,  or  else  representatives  of  the  press. 

By  permission  of  the  authorities,  the  daughter  of  Mrs.  Surratt  passed 
the  night  previous  to  the  execution  with  her  mother,  in  her  cell.  The 
entire  interview  was  of  a  very  affecting  character.  The  daughter  re- 
mained with  her  mother  until  a  short  time  before  the  execution,  and  when 
the  time  came  for  separation  the  screams  of  anguish  that  burst  from  the 
poor  girl  could  be  distinctly  heard  all  over  the  execution  ground. 

During  the  morning  the  daughter  proceeded  to  the  Metropolitan 
Hotel,  and  sought  an  interview  with  General  Hancock.  Finding  him,  she 
implored  him  in  pitiable  accents  to  get  a  reprieve  for  her  mother.  The 
General,  of  course,  had  no  power  to  grant  or  obtain  such  a  favor,  and  so 
informed  the  distressed  girl,  in  as  gentle  a  manner  as  possible. 

General  Hancock,  with  the  kindness  that  always  characterized  his 
actions  apart  from  the  stern  duties  of  his  noble  profession,  did  his  best  to 
assuage  the  mental  anguish  of  the  grief-stricken  girl. 

The  alleged  important  after-discovered  testimony,  which  the  counsel 
for  Mrs.  Surratt  stated  would  prove  her  innocence,  was  submitted  to 
Judge  Advocate-General  Holt,  who,  after  a  careful  examination,  failed  to 
discover  anything  in  it  having  a  bearing  on  the  case.  This  was  com- 
municated to  the  President,  and  doubtless  induced  him  to  decline  to  inter- 
fere in  the  execution  of  Mrs.  Surratt. 


Execution  of  the  Chicago  Anarchists 


Emma.  Goldman 
The  High  Priestess  of  Anarchy 


BOOK  IV. 


A  History  of  Anarchy. 

The  Notable  Assassinations  of  Modern  Times. 


BOOK  IV. 

History  of  ^ 

The  ffotahle  As-ta-t-sination-s  of  Modern  Time's 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

NOTABLE  ASSASSINS  AND  ASSASSINATIONS  OF  RECENT  TIMES — 
MURDER  OF  PRESIDENTS  OF  REPUBLICS,  CROWNED  HEADS  AND  PROMI- 
NENT MEN  OF  VARIOUS  NATIONS — CHARACTERISTICS  OF  REGICIDES — 
THEIR  METHODS  OF  PROCEDURE — MOST  OF  THEM  OF  A  Low  TYPE  OF 
INTELLECTUALITY — WHAT  PROMPTED  THEM  TO  THEIR  FEROCIOUS 
AND  DESPERATE  DEEDS — THE  BLOODY  AND  GHASTLY  RECORD  OF  A 
SINGLE  CENTURY — PUNISHMENTS  METED  OUT  TO  THE  CRIMINALS. 


The  record  of  the  past  century  in  the  matter  of  the  murder  and 
attempted  murder  of  heads  of  states  is  a  most  bloody  and  ghastly  one. 
Surely  since  the  dawn  of  the  Nineteenth  Century,  almost  all  the  nations 
of  the  world  whose  inhabitants  possessed  any  degree  of  intelligence,  have 
been  amenable  to  the  laws  which  govern  civilized  and  progressive  com- 
munities, but  the  results  have  not  tended  to  fully  prove  this. 

Since  the  year  1800  two  of  the  Czars  of  All  the  Russias  have  fallen 
victims  to  the  cord  and  dynamite  bombs  of  their  nobles  and  subjects; 
three  Presidents  of  the  Great  North  American  Republic  of  the  United 
States  were  felled  by  pistol  shots ;  one  Sultan  of  Turkey,  several  Turkish 
Ministers  of  State,  one  President  of  the  French  Republic,  one  Shah  of 
Persia,  one  President  of  Uruguay,  one  President  of  Guatemala,  an  Em- 
press of  Austria,  one  King  of  Italy,  one  Premier  of  England,  a  member  of 
the  Royal  Family  of  France,  a  Prince  of  Montenegro,  a  Prince  of  Servia, 
a  Marshal  and  a  Prime  Minister  of  Spain,  a  Premier  of  Roumania,  two 
Archbishops  of  Paris,  a  Duke  of  Parma,  and  many  others  of  those  occu- 
pying the  foremost  places  and  positions  in  the  world  have  come  to  a  sudden 
and  untimely  end. 

506 


So6  HISTORY   OF  ANARCHY. 

The  following  is  the  awful  list: 

George  III.  of  England,  attempt  by  Margaret  Nicholson  on  August 
2,  1786,  and  by  James  Hatfield  on  May  15,  1800. 

Napoleon  I.  of  France,  attempt  by  use  of  an  infernal  machine  on 
December  24,  1800. 

Czar  Paul  of  Russia,  killed  by  nobles  of  his  court  on  March  24,  1801. 

Spencer  Percival,  Premier  of  England,  killed  by  Bellingham  on  May 
u,  1812. 

George  IV.  of  England,  attempt  on  January  28,  1817. 

August  Kotzebue  of  Germany,  killed  by  Earl  Sand  for  political  mo- 
tives on  March  23,  1819. 

Charles  Due  de  Berri,  killed  on  February  13,  1820. 

Andrew  Jackson,  President  of  the  United  States,  attempt  on  January 
30,  1835. 

Louis  Philippe  of  France,  six  attempts :  By  Fieschi,  on  July  28,  1835  ; 
by  Alibaud,  on  June  25,  1836;  by  Miunier,  on  December  27,  1836;  by 
Darmos,  on  October  16,  1840;  by  Lecompte,  on  April  14,  1846;  by  Henry, 
on  July  19,  1846. 

Denis  Afire,  Archbishop  of  Paris,  on  June  27,  1848. 

Rossi,  Comte  Pellegrino,  Roman  statesman,  on  November  15,  1848. 

Frederick  William  IV.  of  Prussia,  attempt  by  Sofelage  on  May  22, 
1850. 

Francis  Joseph  of  Austria,  attempt  by  Libenyi  on  February  18,  1853. 

Ferdinand  Charles  III.,  Duke  of  Parma,  on  March  27,  1854. 

Isabella  II.  of  Spain,  attempts  by  La  Riva  on  May  4,  1847  5  by  Merino 
on  February  2,  1852 ;  by  Raymond  Fuentes  on  May  28,  1856. 

Napoleon  III.,  attempts  by  Pianori  on  April  28,  1855 ;  by  Bellemarre 
on  September  8,  1855 ;  by  Orsini  and  others  (France)  on  January  14,  1858. 

Daniel,  Prince  of  Montenegro,  on  August  13,  1860. 

Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the  United  States,  at  Ford's  Theater, 
Washington,  by  John  Wilkes  Booth,  on  the  evening  of  April  14 ;  died  on 
April  15,  1865. 

Michael,  Prince  of  Servia,  on  June  10,  1868. 

Prim,  Marshal  of  Spain,  on  December  28 ;  died  on  December  30,  1870. 

George  Darboy,  Archbishop  of  Paris,  by  communists,  on  May  24, 
1871. 

Richard,  Earl  of  Mayo,  Governor  General  of  India,  by  Shere  AH,  a 
convict,  in  Andaman  Islands,  on  February  8,  1872. 

Amadeus,  Duke  of  Aosta,  when  King  of  Spain,  attempt  on  July 
19,  1872. 


HISTORY   OF   ANARCHY.  507 

Prince  Bismarck,  attempt  by  Blind  on  May  7,  1866;  by  Kullman  on 
July  13,  1874. 

Abdul  Aziz,  Sultan  of  Turkey,  on  June  4,  1876. 

Hussein  Avni  and  other  Turkish  Ministers,  by  Hassan,  a  Circassian 
officer,  on  June  15,  1876. 

William  I.  of  Prussia  and  Germany,  attempts  by  Oscar  Becker  on 
July  14,  1 86 1 ;  by  Hoedel  on  May  n,  1878;  by  Dr.  Nobiling  on  June  2, 
1878. 

Mehemet  AH  Pasha,  by  Albanians,  on  September  7,  1878. 

Lord  Lytton,  Viceroy  of  India,  attempt  by  Busa  on  December  12, 
1878. 

Alfonso  XII.  of  Spain,  attempts  by  J.  O.  Moncasi  on  October  25, 
1878;  by  Francisco  Otero  Gonzalez  on  December  30,  1879. 

Loris  Melikoff,  Russian  General,  attempt  on  March  4,  1880. 

Bratiano,  Premier  of  Roumania,  attempt  by  J.  Pietraro  on  December 
14,  1880. 

Alexander  II.  of  Russia,  attempts  by  Karakozow  at  St.  Petersburg  on 
April  1 6,  1 865;  by  Berezowski  at  Paris  on  June  6,  1867;  by  Alexander 
Solovieff  on  April  14,  1879 ;  by  undermining  a  railway  train  on  December 
i;  1879;  by  explosion  of  Winter  Palace,  St.  Petersburg,  on  February  17, 
1880;  killed  by  explosion  of  a  bomb  thrown  by  a  man  who  was  himself 
killed,  St.  Petersburg,  on  March  13,  1881. 

James  A.  Garfield,  President  of  the  United  States,  shot  by  Charles  J. 
Guiteau  on  July  2,  1881. 

Mayor  Carter  H.  Harrison  of  Chicago,  shot  by  Prendergast  on  Octo- 
ber 28,  1893. 

Marie  Francois  Carnot,  President  of  France,  stabbed  mortally  at 
Lyons  by  Cesare  Santo,  an  anarchist,  on  Sunday,  June  24,  1894. 

Stanislaus  Stambuloff,  ex-Premier  of  Bulgaria,  killed  by  four  persons, 
armed  with  revolvers  and  knives,  on  July  25,  1895. 

Nasr-ed-Din,  Shah  of  Persia,  was  assassinated  on  May  i,  1896,  as  he 
was  entering  a  shrine  near  his  palace.  The  man  who  shot  him  was  dis- 
guised as  a  woman  and  is  believed  to  have  been  the  tool  of  a  band  of  con- 
spirators. He  was  caught  and  suffered  the  most  horrible  death  that 
Persian  ingenuity  could  invent. 

Antonio  Canovas  del  Castillo,  Prime  Minister  of  Spain,  shot  to  death 
by  Michel  Angolillo,  alias  Golli,  an  Italian  anarchist,  at  Santa  Agueda, 
Spain,  while  going  to  the  baths  on  August  8,  1897. 

Juan  Idiarte  Borda,  President  of  Uruguay,  killed  on  August  25,  1897, 
at  Montevideo,  by  Avelino  Arredondo,  officer  in  Uruguayan  army. 


So8  HISTORY   OF  ANARCHY. 

President  Diaz,  attempt  in  the  City  of  Mexico  by  M.  Arnulfo  on 
September  20,  1897. 

Jose  Maria  Reyna  Barrios,  President  of  Guatemala,  killed  at  Guate- 
mala City  on  February  8,  1898,  by  Oscar  Solinger. 

Empress  Elizabeth  of  Austria,  stabbed  by  Luchini,  a  French-Italian 
anarchist,  at  Geneva,  Switzerland,  on  September  10,  1898. 

William  Goebel,  Democratic  claimant  to  the  Governorship  of  Ken- 
tucky, shot  by  a  person  unknown  on  Tuesday,  January  30,  1900,  while  on 
his  way  to  the  State  Capitol  in  Frankfort,  Ky. 

Humbert,  King  of  Italy,  shot  to  death  on  July  29,  1900,  at  Monza, 
Italy,  by  Angelo  Bresci. 

Albert  Edward,  then  Prince  of  Wales,  now  King  of  England,  attempt 
by  Brussels  anarchist  on  April  4,  1900. 

William  McKinley,  President  of  the  United  States,  shot  at  Buffalo 
on  September  6,  1901. 

In  the  times  of  savagery  and  tumult,  when  force  ruled  the  earth, 
when  kingdoms  were  but  the  property  of  brutalized  and  despoiling  sov- 
ereigns, statesmen  and  ministers,  it  was  not  surprising  that  the  oppressed 
should  endeavor  to  rid  themselves  of  their  oppressors.  It  was,  in  fact, 
no  more  than  natural  that  the  people,  from  the  period  of  Caesar  to  the 
time  when  the  people  of  the  various  nations  were  given  some  semblance 
of  rights  of  speech  and  participation  in  governmental  affairs,  should  seek 
to  rid  themselves  of  those  who  sought  to  enslave  them. 

Yet  in  spite  of  this  the  assassin  has  always  been  regarded  as  the  most 
despicable  of  wretches.  Men  delight  in  fair  play,  and  demand  that  every- 
one be  given  a  chance  for  his  life.  This  the  assassin  refuses  to  do,  but 
strikes  in  the  dark,  or  when  his  victim  is  off  his  guard  and  unsuspecting. 
The  memory  of  the  assassin  is  always  held  in  execration  and  contempt,  and 
the  world  is  ashamed  that  it  ever  gave  birth  to  such  a  villain. 

Of  the  assassins  of  Chief  Magistrates  of  the  United  States 
extended  mention  is  made  elsewhere.  As  to  the  others,  the  cord  or  rope, 
the  pistol,  the  knife,  the  bomb  and  poison  were  the  instruments  used  in 
carrying  out  their  designs. 

The  Czar  Paul,  of  Russia,  was  strangled  to  death  by  nobles  of  his 
court,  because  he  had  become  obnoxious  to  them  and  the  people,  by  reason 
of  his  atrocious  cruelties.  This  assassination  was  done  so  openly  that 
the  names  of  the  murderers  of  his  father  were  well  known  to  the  Czar 
Alexander  I.,  yet  the  latter  kept  many  of  them  in  his  service,  heaping  the 
highest  honors  upon  them.  He  walked,  talked  and  consulted  daily  with 
them,  but  so  powerful  were  they  that  he  dared  not  mete  out  to  them  the 


HISTORY   OF   ANARCHY.  509 

punishment  they  deserved.  The  shadow  of  this  crime  hung  over  this 
monarch  as  long  as  he  lived,  yet  he  is  described  as  "a  sweet  and  perfect 
prince,"  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  he,  the  beneficiary,  did  not  avenge  the 
foul  deed. 

Spencer  Percival,  Prime  Minister  of  England,  who  was  shot  dead  in 
the  lobby  of  the  House  of  Commons  at  Westminster,  owed  his  death  at 
the  hands  of  the  murderer  Bellingham  to  the  excited  state  of  political 
feeling  in  Great  Britain  at  that  time.  The  United  States  has  never  known 
such  a  condition  of  things,  politically,  as  was  prevalent  in  the  British  Isles 
at  that  period.  •  Bellingham  was  hanged  for  his  crime. 

EXECUTION  OF  THE  CZAR'S  ASSASSINS. 

The  frightful  scenes  attendant  upon  the  execution  of  the  five  Nihilists 
who  were  in  the  plot  to  assassinate  the  Czar  of  All  the  Russias,  Alexander 
II.,  is  vividly  told  by  J.  A.  Chandor,  who  represented  the  London  Daily 
Telegraph  at  the  time,  and  was  an  eye-witness : 

"Just  prior  to  his  death  Alexander  was  at  an  inspection  of  a  body  of 
his  troops'  some  distance  from  the  palace.  The  inspection  of  the  Cossacks 
over,  the  Czar  and  his  escort  began  the  trip  back  to  the  royal  home.  They 
could  have  taken  two  routes,  either  the  Catherine  Canal,  or  what  was 
known  as  the  garden  path,  to  the  palace.  The  escorters  went  by  the  canal, 
and  it  was  indeed  fortunate  that  they  did,  for  had  they  taken  the  garden 
route  that  day  there  would  have  been  a  frightful  slaughter,  and  a  large 
portion  of  St.  Petersburg  would  have  been  blown  up.  The  Nihilists  had 
the  garden  route  mined  for  blocks,  and  enough  dynamite  was  beneath  the 
surface  of  the  roadway  to  tear  up  the  entire  street.  I  saw  these  mines  after 
the  killing  of  the  Czar.  They  were  wonderfully  executed,  and  in  their 
construction  the  Nihilists  displayed  great  engineering  skill  and  cunning. 

"The  signal  was  given  as  to  the  route  the  Czar  and  his  convoy  would 
take.  The  plans  for  the  assassination  on  the  garden  route  were  thwarted 
for  a  minute,  but  the  Nihilists  immediately  repaired  to  the  canal.  The 
first  bomb  thrown  failed  to  kill  the  Czar,  but  blew  to  atoms  four  or  five 
of  the  escort.  It  was  the  second  of  the  bombs  that  completed  the  task  so 
sacred  to  the  Nihilists,  and  which  startled  the  world  and  threw  Russia  into 
mourning. 

"The  Nihilist  party  was  very  strong  in  St.  Petersburg  at  that  time, 
and  all  along  the  most  rigid  precautions  were  taken  to  prevent  the  terrible 
happening.  Suspected  persons  were  thrown  into  prison  for  conspiracy  on 
every  side,  but  that  did  not  stop  the  plan  for  the  killing  of  Alexander. 
The  tragic  event  over,  the  authorities  began  the  task  of  fastening  the  crime 


5io  HISTORY   OF  ANARCHY. 

on  the  guilty  parties,  and  as  a  result  six  people  were  condemned  to  be 
hanged  for  the  crime.  I  was  on  the  scene  of  the  assassination  twenty 
minutes  after  the  bombs  were  thrown  and  before  the  bodie?  of  the  killed 
had  been  removed.  I  was  also  present  at  the  trials  of  the  Nihilists  and 
at  the  execution  of  the  condemned. 

"To  show  you  how  strict  everything  was  after  the  assassination  I 
will  tell  you  how  I,  with  twenty-five  other  newspaper  correspondents,  hap- 
pened to  be  present  at  the  execution.  The  condemned  persons  were  to 
meet  their  death  on  the  race  course  just  outside  St.  Petersburg.  The  date 
of  the  executions  was  not  set,  and  it  was  not  until  Governor  General 
Baranoff  of  St.  Petersburg  fixed  the  date  that  anyone  knew  when  or  where 
the  executions  would  take  place.  I  was  at  my  quarters  one  night  and  was 
asleep,  about  midnight,  when  I  was  awakened  by  my  servant  with  the 
information  that  there  was  a  Cossack  at  the  front  door,  and  that  he  wanted 
me  immediately.  I  hurriedly  dressed  and  went  down.  There  stood  the 
great,  tall  soldier,  a  perfect  picture,  but,  as  you  are  aware,  a  very  dirty 
creature,  for  a  Russian  soldier  seldom  washes  himself.  He  looked  at  me 
a  moment,  and  then  glanced  at  an  official  paper  he  held  in  his  hand.  I 
knew  what  he  was  doing,  for  he  was  comparing  my  features  with  the 
official  photograph  of  me  in  the  possession  of  the  department.  At  last  he 
nodded  his  head,  as  if  satisfied,  and  drawing  from  his  bosom  another 
official  paper,  handed  it  to  me.  Then  he  saluted,  wheeled  about,  and  went 
out  into  the  night.  I  examined  the  paper,  and  it  was  a  summons  from 
General  Baranoff  to  be  present  at  the  execution,  which  would  take  place 
the  next  morning  at  5  o'clock.  The  order  read  to  meet  the  official  staff 
at  the  palace.  I  went  there  and  found,  long  before  5  o'clock,  my  brother 
newspaper  men,  numbering  twenty-five,  already  assembled.  Carriages 
were  waiting.  We  were  instructed  to  take  our  places  in  them  and  prepare 
to  go  to  the  race  track,  the  scene  of  the  execution.  Mr.  Dobson  of  the 
London  Times  and  myself  were  in  one  carriage,  and  the  others  were  all 
paired  off.  In  each  carriage  were  four  Cossacks,  in  addition  to  two  cor- 
respondents. This  precaution  was  taken  so  that  it  would  be  impossible 
for  us  to  hold  any  conversation  with  the  outside  world  as  we  passed.  We 
were  to  be  the  only  civilians  to  witness  the  execution. 

"At  the  race  track  fully  5,000  troops  were  assembled.  They  com- 
pletely surrounded  the  place  where  the  convicted  were  to  die.  When  we 
approached  the  solid  formation  broke  at  one  place,  and  the  latest  arrivals 
passed  through  long  lines  of  soldiery  before  reaching  the  spot  where  the 
Nihilists  were  to  pay  the  penalty  for  regicide.  I  may  tell  you  right  here 
that  they  do  not  hang  in  Russia  for  murder.  The  death  penalty  is  only 


HISTORY   OF  ANARCHY.  511 

imposed  in  cases  of  persons  convicted  of  regicide,  while  ordinary  mur- 
derers are  sent  to  Siberia  for  life.  To  continue,  the  scaffolds,  six  in  all, 
were  erected  side  by  side.  The  drops  were  only  two  feet,  and  possibly 
less,  for  in  Russia  they  strangle  to  death  and  do  not  break  the  neck  with 
the  drop.  Directly  in  front  of  the  gallows  the  platform  for  the  staff  of 
the  Governor  General  and  for  the  twenty-six  correspondents  was  built. 
It  was  a  slightly  elevated  affair,  and  just  large  enough  to  accommodate  the 
official  party.  We  were  placed  in  rows,  with  Cossacks  all  around  us,  and 
whether  or  not  we  cared  to,  were  forced  to  see  all  the  hangings. 

"There  is  no  official  hangman  in  Russia,  and  when  one  is  necessary, 
a  convicted  murderer  is  called  upon  to  perform  the  duty.  On  this  occa- 
sion a  man  named  Froloff,  who  had  killed  his  entire  family,  was  selected 
for  the  task.  He,  as  a  reward  for  the  work,  was  to  have  his  life  sentence 
in  Siberia  cut  down  to  a  term  of  five  years.  He  was  drunk  at  the  time  of 
the  execution,  for  the  Cossacks  gave  him  liquor  in  any  quantities  he  wished 
so  as  to  make  him  equal  to  the  occasion.  His  condition  was  responsible  for 
the  frightful  bungling  that  occurred  when  the  second  man  was  being 
hanged. 

"The  first  victim  put  to  death  was  the  peasant  boy  who  was  a  tool  of 
the  other  Nihilists,  and  who  threw  the  first  bomb  at  the  Czar.  His  name 
was  Risakoff.  There  was  no  excitement  at  this  stage.  Froloff,  the  hang- 
man, performed  his  first  task  in  an  accurate  manner,  and  the  boy  was  soon 
dead.  Then  it  was  they  brought  in  the  second  victim.  Froloff  became 
excited  and  nervous.  The  man  was  Muravieff,  an  officer  in  the  artillery, 
and  who  was  the  least  guilty  of  all  those  convicted  and  condemned.  His 
connection  with  the  Nihilists  and  with  the  assassination  of  the  Czar  was 
more  by  accident  than  by  design.  His  death  was  a  frightful  one.  He  had* 
to  be  hanged  three  times.  The  first  rope  was  adjusted  badly  by  Froloff, 
and  when  the  trap  was  sprung  it  snapped  in  two  and  Muravieff  was  picked 
up  in  a  semi-conscious  condition  to  be  hanged  over  again  immediately. 
Another  rope  was  secured,  the  only  extra  one  at  the  gallows,  and  this  broke 
as  did  the  first.  There  were  no  caps  used,  and  the  frightful  condition  of 
the  man's  neck  was  plainly  seen  by  all  about  the  scaffold.  There  being  no 
more  extra  ropes,  it  was  necessary  to  utilize  one  of  the  other  scaffolds. 
The  sixth  scaffold  was  to  have  been  used  for  the  hanging  of  Jessie  Helt- 
man,  but  she  was  pardoned  at  the  last  minute  and  sentenced  to  Siberia 
for  life,  because  it  was  known  that  she  was  enceinte.  Her  gallows  was 
then  used  for  the  taking  of  Muravieff's  life.  This  time  Froloff  did  his 
work  well,  and  there  were  no  more  harrowing  scenes  of  that  kind. 

"The  third  man  to  meet  death  was  the  head  and  center  of  the  Nihilist 


Si2  HISTORY   OF   ANARCHY. 

party,  Jeliabroff.  He,  like  all  the  others,  was  placed  on  the  scaffold  with 
his  arms  pinioned,  and  both  hands  extended  out  in  front  of  the  body. 
The  hands  were  covered  with  fingerless  gloves,  as  is  the  custom,  and 
apparently  Jeliabroff  was  very  nervous.  His  hands  twitched  terribly,  and 

I,  for  one,  did  not  believe  that  it  was  all  due  to  nervousness.     My  sus- 
picions were  a  few  moments  after  confirmed,  for  an  officer  in  the  staff 
of  Governor  General  Baranoff  was  arrested  and  convicted  of  being  a 
Nihilist.     Prior  to  being  exiled  in  Siberia,  he  confessed  all  his  connection 
with  the  party,  and  he  told  how  Jeliabroff  had  communicated  with  him  in 
regard  to  several  details  of  the  party  workings  while  he  was  on  the  scaffold 
waiting  the  trap  to  fall.     The  fourth  man  to  hang  was  Kibalchik,  an 
officer  in  the  navy,  who  had  stolen  the  dynamite  with  which  the  Czar  was 
killed  from  one  of  the  Government  arsenals  at  Kronstadt.     The  last  vic- 
tim was  a  woman  of  noble  family  and  a  daughter  of  one  of  Russia's  poets. 
She  was  Sophie  Perowska,  and  her  part  in  the  assassination  of  Alexander 

II.  was  an  all-important  one.     She  was  near  the  scene  of  the  inspection 
of  the  troops,  and  when  the  royal  party  began  the  return  trip  to  the  palace, 
she  signaled  the  Nihilists,  who  were  in  waiting  on  the  route  the  convoy 
was  to  take.     She  was  one  of  the  first  prisoners  taken,  but  she  was  the 
last  victim  hanged. 

"The  care  taken  at  the  execution  on  the  part  of  the  Government  was 
remarkable.  The  prisoners  were  brought  to  the  scene  of  the  execution 
in  five  high  carts.  Around  each  cart  was  a  band  of  fifes  and  drums, 
which  played  continually  during  the  march  from  the  prison  to  the  race 
track.  This  was  done  to  prevent  the  condemned  holding  any  communica- 
tion with  any  outsider." 

ELNIKOFF'S  INFERNAL  MACHINE. 

The  infernal  machine  used  by  the  assassin  Elnikoff  to  kill  the  Czar, 
Alexander  II.,  was  seven  and  one-half  inches  in  height,  and  was  com- 
posed of  metal  tubes  filled  with  chlorate  of  potash,  and  enclosing  glass 
tubes  loaded  with  sulphuric  acid  (oil  of  vitriol).  These  intersected  the 
cylinder.  Around  these  glass  tubes  were  rings  of  iron,  closely  attached, 
doing  duty  as  weights.  No  matter  how  the  bomb  fell  it  would  break. 
The  chlorate  of  potash  was  combined  with  sulphuric  acid,  which  ignited 
at  once,  and  the  flames  communicated  at  once  over  the  fuse  with  the  piston, 
which  was  filled  with  fulminate  of  silver. 

The  concussion  (when  the  bomb  was  thrown)  exploded  the  dynamite 
or  "black  jelly"  with  which  the  cylinder  was  closely  packed. 


HISTORY  OF  ANARCHY.  $13 

Another  infernal  machine  to  have  been  used  in  killing  the  Czar's 
son  and  successor  bore  the  appearance  of  a  huge  book.  It  was  filled  with 
dynamite,  but  the  assassin  did  not  have  a  chance  to  use  it. 

ASSASSINATION  OF  MAYOR  HARRISON. 

The  assassination  of  Mayor  Carter  Henry  Harrison,  of  Chicago,  on 
the  night  of  October  28th,  1893,  was  peculiarly  atrocious.  An  idle  fellow 
named  Prendergast  rang  the  door-bell  at  the  Mayor's  house,  was  admitted, 
and  as  Mayor  Harrison  came  out  into  the  hallway  Prendergast  shot  him. 
He  lived  only  a  few  minutes.  It  was  just  three  days  before  the  close  of 
the  World's  Columbian  Exposition,  and  the  latter  ended  in  gloom. 

Prendergast  was  hanged  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  he  feigned  insanity 
to  a  most  successful  degree. 

PRESIDENT  CARNOT  STABBED  TO  DEATH. 

President  Marie  Francois  Carnot,  head  of  the  French  Republic,  was 
stabbed  to  death  by  an  anarchist  named  Caesare  Santo,  an  Italian,  while 
on  a  visit  to  Lyons.  He  was  in  his  carriage,  but  Santo  got  past  his 
guards,  the  President  dying  almost  instantly  from  the  effect  of  his  wounds. 

Santo's  trial  was  a  very  short  one,  and  within  two  months  after  the 
tragedy  his  head  fell  under  the  axe.  He  had  no  accomplices,  although 
it  was  shown  that  he  was  a  member  of  an  Italian  anarchist  society.  Im- 
mediately afterward  all  the  Italian  anarchists  who  could  be  found  were 
expelled  from  France. 

DEATH  OF  THE  EMPRESS  ELIZABETH. 

One  of  the  most  cruel  and  causeless  of  all  the  notable  assassinations 
of  sovereigns  in  the  history  of  the  world  was  that  of  the  Empress  Eliza- 
beth, wife  of  His  Majesty,  Franz  Joseph,  Emperor  of  Austria.  The 
Empress  had  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  the  governmental  affairs  of 
the  Austrian  Empire,  but  was  traveling  in  search  of  health. 

On  the  evening  of  September  loth,  1898,  she  was  about  to  take  the 
boat  to  leave  Geneva,  Switzerland,  when  she  was  approached  by  an 
Italian  anarchist  named  Luchini,  and  stabbed  to  the  heart.  As  there  is 
no  law  in  Switzerland  for  the  execution  of  murderers,  Lucini  was  sen- 
tenced to  imprisonment  for  life.  He  was  one  of  the  rabid  anarchistic 
school  and  gloried  in  his  deed. 

THE  SHOOTING  OF  KING  HUMBERT. 

The  assassination  of  King  Humbert  I,  of  Italy,  on  the  29th  of  July, 
1900,  at  his  country  residence,  near  Monza,  Italy,  not  far  from  Rome, 


514  HISTORY   OF   ANARCHY. 

was  but  the  beginning  of  a  series  of  assassinations,  so  the  anarchists 
claimed,  the  other  victims  selected  being  William  McKinley,  President 
of  the  United  States ;  William  II,  Emperor  of  Germany,  and  Nicholas  II, 
Czar  of  all  the  Russias.  President  McKinley  was  assassinated  in  little 
more  than  a  year  afterward,  but  no  connection  was  ever  discovered  be- 
tween that  tragedy  and  the  one  which  robbed  the  Italians  of  their  monarch. 

King  Humbert's  assassin  was  also  an  Italian  anarchist,  named  Angelo 
Bresci,  but  at  the  time  he  was  living  in  Paterson,  N.  J.,  and  was  sent 
from  that  place  for  the  sole  purpose  of  killing  the  King.  The  plot  which 
led  to  the  assassination  was  formed  at  Paterson.  King  Humbert  was  in 
the  act  of  distributing  some  medals  when  Bresci  slipped  through  the  line 
of  guards  and  shot  His  Majesty,  the  latter  living  but  a  short  time. 

It  so  happened  that  King  Humbert  had  signed  a  law  for  the  abolition 
of  capital  punishment  in  Italy,  and  the  assassin  could  not,  therefore,  be 
executed,  but  being  placed  in  close  confinement  he  went  insane  and  com- 
mitted suicide  about  a  year  after  his  cowardly  crime.  He  was  closely 
guarded,  and  his  cell  was  so  brilliantly  lighted  day  and  night  that  he 
could  not  get  sleep.  While  in  his  cell  he  could  neither  sit  down  nor  stand 
up,  owing  to  its  peculiar  construction. 


CHAPTER  XL. 

THE  HISTORY  OF  ANARCHY  AND  ANARCHISTS  IN  EUROPE  AND  THE  UNITED 
STATES  SINCE  THE  CONCEPTION  OF  THE  MOVEMENT — INFLUENCE  OF 
THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION — SOMETHING  ABOUT  NITRO-GLYCERINE, 
DYNAMITE,  LYDDITE  AND  MELINITE — ANARCHISTS,  HOWEVER,  PRE- 
FER DYNAMITE — UNITED  STATES  GETS  THE  TERRORISTS  IN  FORCE 
AFTER  THE  PASSAGE  OF  THE  GERMAN  SOCIALIST  LAW. 


Anarchy  in  the  United  States  is  of  the  German  school,  which  is  more 
nearly  akin  to  Nihilism  than  to  the  doctrines  taught  in  France.  It  is 
founded  upon  the  teachings  of  Karl  Marx  and  his  disciples,  and  it  aims 
directly  at  the  complete  destruction  of  all  forms  of  government  and  reli- 
gion. It  offers  no  solution  of  the  problems  which  will  arise  when  society, 
as  we  understand  it,  shall  disappear,  but  contents  itself  with  declaring  that 
the  duty  at  hand  is  tearing  down;  that  the  work  of  building  up  must 
come  later. 

There  are  several  reasons  why  the  revolutionary  program  stops 
short  at  the  work  of  anarchy,  chief  among  which  is  the  fact  that  there 
are  as  many  panaceas  for  the  future  as  there  are  revolutionists,  and  it 
would  be  a  hopeless  task  to  think  of  binding  them  all  to  one  platform  of 
construction.  The  anarchists  are  all  agreed  that  the  present  system  must 
go,  and  so  far  they  can  work  together ;  after  that,  each  will  take  his  own 
task  into  Utopia. 

Their  dream  of  the  future  is  accordingly  as  many-colored  as  Joseph's 
coat.  Each  man  has  his  own  ideal.  Engel,  who  was  hanged  in  1887, 
was  Karl  Marx's  successor  in  the  leadership  of  the  movement,  believed 
that  men  will  associate  themselves  into  organizations  like  co-operative 
societies  for  mutual  protection,  support  and  improvement,  and  that  these 
will  be  the  only  units  in  the  country  of  a  social  nature.  There  will  be 
no  law,  no  church,  no  capital,  no  anything  that  we  regard  as  necessary  to 
the  life  of  a  nation. 

England  is  really  responsible  for  the  most  of  the  present  strength 
of  the  conspiracy  against  all  the  civilized  governments  of  the  world,  for 
it  was  in  the  secure  asylum  of  London  that  speculative  anarchy  was 

515 


Si6  HISTORY   OF   ANARCHY. 

thought  out  by  German  exiles  for  German  use,  and  it  was  from  London 
that  the  "red  Internationale"  was  in  all  probability  directed.  This  was 
the  result  of  political  scheming,  for  the  fomenting  of  discontent  on  the 
continent  of  Europe  has  always  been  one  of  the  weapons  in  the  British 
armory. 

In  England  itself  the  movement  had  only  of  late  won  any  prominence, 
although  it  was  in  England  that  it  was  baptized  "Socialism"  by  Robert 
Owen,  in  1835,  a  name  which  was  afterward  taken  up  both  in  France  and 
Germany. 

INFLUENCE  OF  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION. 

The  French  Revolution  drew  a  broad  red  line  across  the  world's 
history.  It  was  the  most  momentous  fact  in  the  annals  of  modern  times. 
There  is  no  need  for  us  to  go  behind  it,  or  to  examine  its  causes.  We  can 
take  it  as  a  fact — as  the  great  revolt  in  the  history  of  the  world  of  the 
common  people — and  push  on  to  the  things  that  follow  it. 

Babeuf — "Gracchus"  Babeuf,  as  he  called  himself — after  serving 
part  of  a  term  in  prison  for  forgery,  escaped,  went  to  Paris  in  the  heat 
of  the  Revolution  and  started  The  Tribune  of  the  People,  the  first  Socialis- 
tic paper  ever  published.  He  was  too  incendiary  even  for  Robespierre,  and 
was  imprisoned  in  1795.  In  prison  he  formed  the  most  famous  "Con- 
spiracy of  Babeuf,"  which  was  to  establish  the  Communistic  republic. 
For  this  conspiracy  he  and  Darthe  were  beheaded  May  24th,  1797. 

Etienne  Cabet  was  a  Socialist  before  the  term  was  invented,  but  he 
was  a  peaceful  and  honest  one.  He  published,  in  1842,  his  "Travels  in 
Icaria,"  describing  an  ideal  state.  Like  most  political  reformers,  he  chose 
the  United  States  as  the  best  place  to  try  his  experiment  upon.  It  is  a 
curious  fact  that  there  is  not  a  nation  in  Europe,  however  much  of  a 
failure  it  may  have  made  of  all  those  things  that  go  to  make  up  rational 
liberty,  which  does  not  feel  itself  competent  to  tell  us  just  what  the  United 
States  ought  to  do,  instead  of  what  we  are  doing. 

Cabet  secured  a  grant  of  land  on  the  Red  River  in  Texas  just  after 
the  Mexican  War,  and  a  colony  of  Icarians  came  out.  They  took  the 
yellow  fever  and  were  dispersed  before  Cabet  came  with  the  second  part 
of  the  colony.  About  this  time  the  Mormons  left  Nauvoo  in  Illinois,  and 
the  Icarians  came  to  take  their  places.  The  colony  has  since  established 
itself  at  Grinnell,  Iowa,  and  a  branch  is  at  San  Bernardino,  California. 
The  Nauvoo  settlement  has,  I  believe,  been  abandoned. 

Babeuf  and  Cabet  prepared  the  way  for  Saint  Simon.  He  was  a 
count,  and  a  lineal  descendant  of  Charlemange.  He  fought  in  our  War 


517 

of  the  Revolution  under  Washington,  and  passed  its  concluding  years  in  a 
British  prison.  He  preached  nearly  the  modern  Socialism — the  revolt 
of  the  proletariat  against  property — and  his  work  has  indelibly  impressed 
itself  upon  the  whole  movement  in  France. 

Charles  Fourier,  born  in  1772,  was  the  son  of  a  grocer  in  Besancon, 
and  he  was  a  man  who  exercised  great  influence  upon  the  movement 
among  the  French.  He  was  rather  a  dreamer  than  a  man  of  action,  and, 
although  attempts  have  been  made  to  carry  his  familistere  into  practice, 
there  is  no  conspicuous  success  to  record,  save,  perhaps,  that  of  the 
familistere  at  Guise,  in  France,  which  has  been  conducted  for  a  long  time 
on  the  principles  laid  down  by  Fourier. 

EACH  HAD  A  CURE  FOR  SOCIAL  EVILS. 

All  these  men  had  before  them  concrete  schemes  for  a  new  society 
in  which  the  evils  of  the  present  system  would  be  avoided  by  what  they 
considered  a  more  equable  division  of  wealth,  and  each  made  the  effort 
to  carry  his  scheme  from  theory  into  practice,  so  that  the  world  might  see 
the  success  and  imitate  it.  Following  them  came  the  men  who  held 
that,  before  the  new  society  can  be  formed,  the  old  society  must  be  got 
rid  of — men  who  see  but  one  way  toward  Socialism,  and  that  through 
Anarchy. 

Louis  Blanc  was  the  first  of  these,  although  he  would  not  have 
described  himself  as  an  Anarchist,  nor  would  it  be  fair  to  call  him  one. 
He  represented  the  transition  stage.  He  attempted  political  reforms  of 
a  most  sweeping  character  during  the  revolution  of  1848.  The  govern- 
ment of  the  day  established  "national  workshops"  as  a  concession  to  him. 
Of  these  more  is  said  hereafter. 

Pierre  Joseph  Proudhon,  born  in  Besancon  July  I5th,  1809,  is  really 
the  father  of  French  Anarchy.  His  great  work,  "What  Is  Property?" 
was  published  in  1840,  and  he  declared  that  property  was  theft  and 
property-holders  thieves.  It  is  to  this  epoch-making  work  that  the  whole 
school  of  modern  Anarchy,  in  any  of  its  departments,  may  be  traced. 
Proudhon  was  fired  by  a  natural  hatred  of  the  rich.  He  describes  a 
proprietor  as  "essentially  a  libidinous  animal,  without  virtue  and  without 
shame."  The  importance  of  his  work  is  shown  by  the  effect  it  has  had 
even  upon  orthodox  political  economy,  while  on  the  other  side  it  has 
been  the  inspiration  of  Karl  Marx.  Proudhon  died  in  Passy  in  1865. 

FRENCH  SOCIALISM  A  REFLEX  OF  THE  GERMAN  SCHOOL. 
Since  his  time  until  within  the  last  year  or  two,  French  Socialism  has 
been  but  a  reflex  of  the  German  school.     It  has  produced  no  first-rates, 


Si8  HISTORY   OF  AN ARCHY. 

and  has  been  content  to  take  its  doctrines  from  Lasalle,  Karl  Marx  and 
Engel,  the  leaders  of  the  German  movement,  and  Bakounine  and  Prince 
Krapotkin,  the  Russian  terrorists,  have  impressed  their  ideas  deeply  upon 
the  French  discontented  ones.  The  revolt  of  the  Commune  of  Paris  after 
the  Franco-German  war  was  nol;  exactly  an  Anarchist  uprising,  although 
the  Anarchists  impressed  their  ideas  upon  much  of  the  work  done.  The 
Commune  of  Paris  meant  very  much  the  same  as  "the  people  of  Illinois." 
It  was  the  legal  designation  of  the  commonwealth,  and  did  not  imply 
Communism  any  more  than  the  word  commonwealth  does. 

It  was  a  fight  for  the  autonomy  of  Paris,  and  one  in  which  many 
people  were  engaged  who  had  no  sympathy  for  Anarchy,  although  cer- 
tainly the  lawless  element  finally  obtained  complete  control  of  the  situation. 
The  rising  in  Lyons  several  years  later  was  distinctly  and  wholly  Anarchic, 
and  it  was  for  this  that  Prince  Krapotkin  and  others  were  sent  to  prison. 

At  the  present  day  there  is  no  practical  distinction  between  Socialism 
and  the  Anarchy  in  France,  or,  indeed,  the  United  States.  All  Socialists 
are  Anarchists  as  a  first  step,  although  all  Anarchists  are  not  precisely 
Socialists.  They  look  to  the  Russian  Nihilists  and  the  German  irrecon- 
cilables  as  their  leaders. 

German  Socialism  is  really  the  doctrine  which  is  now  taught  all  over 
the  world,  and  it  was  this  teaching  that  led  directly  to  the  Haymarket  mas- 
sacre in  Chicago  in  1886.  At  the  time  it  began  with  Karl  Rodbertus,  who 
lived  from  1805  to  1875.  He  first  became  prominent  in  Germany  in  1848, 
and  he  was  for  some  time  Minister  of  Education  and  Public  Worship  in 
Prussia.  He  was  a  theorist  rather  than  a  practical  reformer,  but  com- 
petent critics  assign  him  the  very  highest  rank  as  a  political  economist. 
His  first  work  was  "Our  Economic  Condition,"  which  was  published  in 
1843,  and  his  other  books,  which  he  published  up  to  within  a  short  time 
of  his  death,  were  simply  elucidations  of  the  principles  he  had  first  laid 
down. 

His  writings  have  had  a  greater  effect  on  modern  Socialism  than 
those  of  any  other  thinker,  not  even  excepting  Karl  Marx  or  Lasalle. 
His  theories  were  brought  to  a  practical  issue  by  Marx,  who  united  into 
a  compact  whole  the  teachings  of  Proudhon  and  of  Rodbertus,  his  own 
genius  giving  a  new  luster  and  a  new  value  to  the  result. 

Marx  was  far  and  above  the  greatest  man  that  the  Socialism  of  the 
Nineteenth  Century  has  produced.  He  was  a  deep  student,  a  man  of  most 
formidable  mental  powers,  eloquent,  persuasive  and  honest.  His  great 
book,  "Capital,"  has  been  called  the  Socialist's  Bible.  Ely  places  it  in  the 
very  first  rank,  saying  of  it  that  it  is  "among  the  ablest  political  economic 


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HISTORY   OF  ANARCHY.  523 

treatises  ever  written."  And  while  the  best  scientific  thought  of  the  age 
agrees  that  Marx  was  mistaken  in  his  premises  and  his  fundamental 
pn  positions,  there  is  accorded  to  him  upon  every  hand  the  tribute  which 
profound  learning  pays  to  hard  work  and  deep  thinking. 

FROM  THEORY  TO  PRACTICE. 

Coming  from  theory  'o  practice,  brings  us  naturally  from  Professor 
Marx  to  the  Internatior  i  Society.  It  was  founded  in  London  in  1864 
and  was  meant  to  inc1  ~e  the  whole  of  the  labor  class  of  Christendom. 
Marx  was  the  chief,  t  at  he  held  the  sovereignty  uneasily.  The  Anarchists 
constantly  antagonized  him.  Bakounine,  the  apostle  of  dynamite,  opposed 
Marx  at  every  po;  it,  and  finally  Marx  had  him  expelled  from  the  society. 
Bakounine  there  ipon  formed  a  new  Internationale,  based  upon  Anarchic 
principles  and  *  le  gospel  of  force.  The  Internationale  of  which  Marx  was 
the  founder  '.as  shrunk  to  a  mere  name,  although  the  organization  is 
still  kept  u1  and  the  body  with  which  the  civilized  world  has  now  to 
record  is  t*  which  Bakounine  formed  after  his  expulsion  from  the  old 
body  in  •  j/2. 

It  s  a  curious  fact  that  many  of  the  Socialists  in  Chicago  today  are 
enthu  iastic  admirers  of  Marx  and  at  the  same  time  members  of  the 
soci'  y  and  followers  of  the  man  Marx  declared  to  be  the  most  dangerous 
en  /  of  the  modern  workingman. 

Marx  is  dead,  however ;  many  things  are  said  in  his  name  of  which 
he  himself  would  never  have  approved,  and  the  "Red  Internationale" 
proclaims  the  man  a  saint  who  refused  either  to  endorse  its  principles  or 
to  consult  with  its  leaders.  It  is  the  same  as  though,  twenty  years  hence, 
the  man  who  last  year  followed  Barry  out  of  the  Knights  of  Labor  were 
to  hold  up  Powderly  to  the  world  as  their  law-giver  and  their  chief. 

LOUISE  MICHEL,  THE  FRENCH  ANARCHIST. 

Louise  Michel,  who  was  a  very  active  worker  in  the  radical  cause 
during  the  outbreak  of  the  Paris  Commune,  was  born  in  1830,  and  first 
attracted  attention  by  verses  full  of  force  which  she  published  very  early 
in  life.  She  was  sentenced  in  1871  to  deportation  for  life,  and  was  trans- 
ported with  others  to  New  Caledonia.  At  the  time  of  the  general  amnesty, 
in  1880,  she  returned  to  Paris  and  became  editor  of  La  Revolution  Sociale. 

Ferdinand  Lasalle,  like  Marx  of  Hebrew  blood,  and  of  early  aristo- 
cratic prejudices,  was  the  father  of  German  Anarchy  as  it  exists  today. 
He  was  a  deep  student  and  a  remarkably  able  man.  He  took  his  inspira- 
tion from  Rodbertus  and  from  Marx,  and  applied  himself  more  to  work 


524  HISTORY   OP  ANARCHY. 

among  the  poor.  Marx  was  over  the  heads  of  the  common  people.  His 
"Capital"  is  very  hard  reading.  Lasalle  popularized  its  teachings.  On 
May  23d,  1863,  a  few  men  met  at  Leipsic  under  the  leadership  of  Lasalle 
and  formed  the  "Universal  German  Laborer's  Union."  This  was  the 
foundation  of  Social  Democracy,  and  its  teachings  were  wholly  Anarchic. 
It  aimed  at  the  subversion  of  the  whole  German  social  system,  by  peaceful 
political  means  at  first,  but  soon  by  force. 

Lasalle  was  shortly  afterward  killed  in  a  duel  over  a  love  affair,  but 
he  was  canonized  by  the  German  Social  Democrats  as  though  his  death 
were  a  martyrdom.  Even  Bismarck  in  the  Reichstag  paid  a  tribute  to 
his  memory.  Lasalle  died  just  about  the  time  that  a  change  was  occurring 
in  his  convictions,  and  had  he  lived  longer,  and  if  contemporary  history 
is  to  be  believed,  he  would  have  taken  office  under  the  German  Govern- 
ment and  applied  himself  heartily  to  the  building  up  of  the  Empire. 

LASALLE'S  MOVEMENT  GAINS  FORCE. 

After  Lasalle's  death  the  movement  which  he  had  initiated  went  for- 
ward with  increased  force.  The  German  laborer  was  finally,  as  the  Inter- 
nationalists put  it,  aroused.  The  German  Empire,  following  the  example 
of  the  Bund,  decreed  universal  suffrage  in  1871.  Before  this,  in  Prussia 
especially,  the  laborer  had  but  the  smallest  political  influence.  The  vote 
of  a  man  in  the  wealthiest  class  in  Berlin  counted  for  as  much  as  the  vote 
of  fifteen  of  the  "proletariat,"  so  called.  Lasalle  died  in  1864,  and  suffrage 
was  first  granted  in  1867.  The  Social  Democrats  at  first  were  in  close 
accord  with  Bismarck.  It  was  the  Social  Democratic  vote  which  elected 
Bismarck  to  the  Reichstag  in  the  first  election  after  the  suffrage  was 
granted.  In  the  fall  of  1867  they  sent  eight  members  to  the  parliament  of 
the  Bund.  In  the  elections  after  the  formation  of  the  Empire,  the  Social- 
istic vote  stood:  In  1871,  123,975;  in  1874,  35!.952;  in  l877»  493>288; 
in  1878,  473,158.  The  Social  Democrats  poll  nearly  10  per  cent  of  the 
whole  vote  of  Germany  at  the  present  time. 

In  1878  occurred  the  two  attempts  on  the  life  of  the  Emperor  of 
Germany,  described  in  a  succeeding  chapter,  and  the  result  was  severe 
repressive  measures  against  the  Social  Democrats.  Their  vote  fell  off 
and  their  influence  declined,  but  in  the  past  two  years,  1887  and  1888, 
they  have  more  than  recovered  their  past  strength,  and  they  now  poll  more 
votes  and  seem  to  exercise  a  greater  political  control  in  Germany  than 
ever  before. 

GERMAN  SOCIALISTS  COME  TO  AMERICA. 

The  Passage  of  the  "Ausnahmsgesetz,"  the  exceptional  law  against 


HISTORY   OF   ANARCHY.  ,  525 

German  Socialists,  drove  many  of  them  to  this  country,  but  had  no  effect 
in  diminishing  the  propaganda  in  Germany.  The  result  was  an  exodus  of 
Socialists,  or  rather  Anarchists,  to  America — by  this  time  the  two  terms, 
wide  apart  as  they  may  have  seemed,  had  become  one — and  to  Chicago 
came  most  of  the  irreconcilable  ones.  The  American  sympathizers,  thus 
formed,  at  first  fixed  their  attention  upon  the  political  situation  in  the  old 
country,  and  they  applied  themselves  closely  to  work  in  connection  with 
the  agitators  who  had  not  expatriated. 

THE  APPEAL  TO  INFERNAL  MACHINES. 

The  attempt  to  gain  political  ends  by  an  appeal  to  infernal  machines 
is  not  a  new  one.  It  is  as  old  as  gunpowder — and  the  evangel  of  assassina- 
tion is  older  still.  Murder  was  the  recognized  political  weapon  of  the 
Eastern  and  Western  Empires,  and  the  Chicago  and  other  Anarchists 
who  worked  in  the  United  States  proved  themselves  neither  better  nor 
worse  than  the  "old  man  of  the  mountain"  or  the  other  Italian  prices  of 
the  middle  ages. 

During  the  reign  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  the  mysterious  explosion 
occurred  in  the  Kirk  of  Feld  in  which  Darnley  lost  his  life.  Somewhat 
later  was  the  "gunpowder  plot,"  in  which  Guy  Faukes  and  his  fellow- 
conspirators  tried  to  blow  up  the  Houses  of  Parliament.  The  petard  and 
the  hand  grenade  were  the  grandfather  and  grandmother  of  the  modern 
bomb,  and  murderous  invention  came  to  its  new  phase  in  the  infernal 
machine  which  Ceruchi,  the  Italian  sculptor,  contrived  for  the  purpose  of 
killing  Napoleon  when  First  Consul — a  catastrophe  which  was  avoided 
by  the  fact  that  Napoleon's  coachman  was  drunk  and  took  the  wrong  way 
in  going  to  the  opera  house. 

France  was  fertile  in  this  sort  of  machinery.  Some  years  later 
Fieschi,  Morey  and  Pepin  tried  to  kill  Louis  Phillippe  with  a  similar 
apparatus  on  the  Boulevard  du  Temple.  The  King  escaped,  but  the  brave 
Marshal  Mortier  was  slain.  Orsini  and  Pieri  made  a  bomb,  round  and 
bristling  with  nippers,  each  of  which  was  charged  with  fulminate  of  mer- 
cury to  explode  the  powder  within,  meaning  to  assassinate  the  Emperor 
Napoleon  and  the  Empress  Eugenie. 

DYNAMITE  NOT  INVENTED  FOR  ASSASSINATIONS. 

In  the  year  1866,  according  to  the  most  trustworthy  authorities,  dyna- 
mite was  first  made  by  Alfred  Nobel.  In  speaking  of  the  invention,  Adolf 
Houssaye,  the  French  literateur,  said : 

"It  should  be  remembered  that  nine-tenths,  probably,  of  the  dynamite 


526  HISTORY   OF   ANARCHY. 

made  is  used  in  peaceful  pursuits ;  in  mining,  and  similar  works.  Indeed, 
since  its  invention  great  engineering  achievements  have  been  accomplished 
which  would  have  been  entirely  impossible  without  it.  I  do  not  see,  then, 
much  room  for  doubt  that  it  has  on  the  whole  been  a  great  blessing  to 
humanity.  Such  certainly  its  inventor  regarded  it.  'If  I  did  not  look 
upon  it  as  such/  he  once  said,  'I  should  close  up  all  my  manufactories 
and  not  make  another  ounce  of  the  stuff.'  He  was  a  strong  advocate  of 
peace,  and  regarded  with  the  utmost  horror  the  use  of  dynamite  by  assas- 
sins and  political  conspirators.  When  the  news  of  the  Haymarket  tragedy 
in  Chicago  reached  him,  M.  Nobel  was  in  Paris,  and  expressed  his  horror 
and  detestation  at  the  cowardly  crime. 

"  'Look  you,'  he  exclaimed.  'I  am  a  man  of  peace.  But  when  I  see 
these  miscreants  misusing  my  invention,  do  you  know  how  it  makes  me 
feel?  It  makes  me  feel  like  gathering  the  whole  crowd  of  them  into 
a  storehouse  full  of  dynamite  and  blowing  them  all  up  together.'  " 

Few  people  know  what  dynamite  is,  though  it  has  attracted  a  good 
deal  of  attention,  and  before  considering  its  use  as  a  mode  for  political 
murder,  it  may  be  well  here  to  give  an  account  of  its  making. 

How  DYNAMITE  Is  PRODUCED. 

Nitro-glycerine,  although  not  the  strongest  explosive  known  to  sci- 
ence, is  the  only  one  of  any  industrial  importance,  as  the  others  are  too 
dangerous  for  manufacture.  It  was  discovered  by  Salvero,  an  Italian 
chemist,  in  1845.  ^  is  composed  of  glycerine  and  nitric  acid  compounded 
together  in  a  certain  proportion  and  at  a  certain  temperature. 

It  is  very  unsafe  to  handle,  and  to  this  reason  is  to  be  ascribed  the 
invention  of  dynamite,  which  is,  after  all,  merely  a  sort  of  earth  and 
nitro-glycerine,  the  use  of  the  earth  being  to  hold  the  explosive  safely,  as 
a  piece  of  blotting  paper  would  hold  water  until  it  was  needed.  Nobel 
first  tried  kieselguhr,  or  flint  froth,  which  was  ground  to  a  powder,  heated 
thoroughly  and  dried,  and  the  nitro-glycerine  was  kneaded  into  it  like 
so  much  dough.  Of  course,  many  other  substances  are  now  used,  besides 
infusorial  earth,  as  vehicles  for  the  explosive — sawdust,  rotten  stone, 
charcoal,  plaster  of  Paris,  black  powder,  etc.,  etc. 

These  are  all  forms  of  dynamite  or  giant  powder,  and  mean  the 
same  thing.  When  the  substance  is  thoroughly  kneaded,  work  that  must 
be  done  with  the  hands,  it  is  molded  into  sticks  somewhat  like  big  candles, 
and  wrapped  in  parchment  paper.  Nitro-glycerine  has  a  sweet,  aromatic, 
pungent  taste,  and  the  peculiar  property  of  causing  a  violent  headache 
when  placed  on  the  tongue  or  the  wrist  It  freezes  at  40  degrees  Fahren- 


HISTORY   OF   ANARCHY.  527 

heit,  and  must  be  melted  by  the  application  of  water  at  a  temperature  of 
loo  degrees. 

In  dynamite  the  usual  proportions  are  25  per  cent  of  earth  and  75 
per  cent  of  nitro-glycerine.  The  explosive  is  fired  by  fulminate  of  silver 
or  mercury  in  copper  caps. 

SOMETHING  IN  REGARD  TO  LYDDITE. 

Outside  of  the  French  arsenals  it  is  to  be  doubted  if  anybody  knows 
anything  more  about  the  new  explosive,  melinite,  further  than  that  it  is 
one  of  the  compounds  of  picric  acid — and  picric  acid  is  a  more  frightful 
explosive  than  nitro-glycerine. 

The  following  excerpt  is  from  the  London  Standard,  describing  the 
artillery  experiments  at  Lydd  with  the  new  explosive,  lyddite,  which  the 
British  used  in  the  South  African  war.  The  Standard,  after  declaring 
that  the  experiments  were  "entirely  satisfactory,"  said : 

"The  character  of  the  compound  employed  is  said  to  be  'akin  to 
melinite/  but  its  precise  nature  is  not  divulged.  We  have  reason  to  believe 
that  the  kinship  is  very  close.  The  details  of  the  experiments  which  have 
lately  been  conducted  at  Lydd  are  known  to  very  few  individuals.  But 
it  is  unquestionable  that  the  results  were  such  as  demonstrated  the  enor- 
mous advantage  to  be  gained  by  using  a  more  powerful  class  of  explosives 
than  that  which  has  been  hitherto  employed.  There  could  be  no  mistake 
as  to  the  destructive  energy  of  the  projectiles.  Neither  was  there  any 
mishap  in  the  use  of  these  terrible  appliances.  The  like  immunity  was 
enjoyed  at  Portsmouth. 

"A  deterrent  to  the  adoption  of  violent  explosives  for  war  purposes 
has  consisted  in  the  risk  of  premature  explosions.  But  there  is  still  the 
consideration  that  the  advantage  to  be  gained  far  exceeds  the  risk  which 
has  to  be  incurred.  France  has  not  neglected  this  question,  and  she  is 
ahead  of  us.  Her  chosen  explosive  is  melinite,  and  with  this  she  has 
armed  herself  to  an  extent  of  which  the  British  public  has  no  con- 
ception. 

"All  the  requisite  materials,  in  the  shape  of  steel  projectiles  and  the 
melinite  for  filling  them,  have  been  provided  for  the  French  service  and 
distributed  so  as  to  furnish  a  complete  supply  for  the  army  and  navy. 
Whatever  may  be  said  as  to  the  danger  which  besets  the  use  of  melinite, 
the  French  authorities  are  confident  that  they  have  mastered  the  problem 
of  making  this  powerful  compound  subservient  to  the  purposes  of  war. 

"Concerning  the  composition  of  this  explosive,  great  secrecy  is 
observed  by  the  French  Government,  as  also  with  regard  to  the  experi- 


528  HISTORY   OF  ANARCHY. 

ments  that  are  made  with  it.  But  Colonel  Majendie  states  that  melinite 
is  largely  composed  of  picric  acid  in  a  fused  or  consolidated  condition. 
Of  the  violence  with  which  picric  acid  will  explode,  an  example  was  given 
on  the  occasion  of  a  fire  at  some  chemical  works  near  Manchester  a  year 
ago.  The  shock  was  felt  over  a  distance  of  two  miles  from  the  seat  of  the 
explosion,  and  the  sound  was  heard  for  a  distance  of  twenty  miles." 

THE  FRENCH  TO  USE  MELINITE  IN  WAR. 

The  conduct  of  the  French  in  committing  themselves  so  absolutely  to 
the  use  of  melinite  as  a  material  of  war  clearly  signifies  that  with  them 
the  use  of  such  a  substance  has  passed  out  of  the  region  of  doubt  and 
experiment.  Their  experimental  investigations  extended  over  a  con- 
siderable period  of  time,  but  at  last  the  stage  of  inquiry  gave  place  to  one 
of  confidence  and  assurance.  So  great  is  the  confidence  of  the  French 
Government  in  the  new  shell  that  it  is  said  the  French  forts  are  henceforth 
to  be  protected  by  a  composite  material  better  adapted  than  iron  or  steel 
to  resist  the  force  of  a  projectile  charged  with  a  high  explosive. 

In  naval  warfare  the  value  of  shells  charged  in  this  manner  is  likely 
to  be  more  especially  shown  in  connection  with  the  rapid-fire  guns  which 
are  now  coming  in  use.  The  question  is  whether  the  ponderous  staccato 
fire  of  monster  ordnance  may  not  be  largely  superseded  by  another  mode 
of  attack,  in  which  a  storm  of  shells,  charged  with  something  far  more 
potent  than  gunpowder,  will  be  poured  forth  in  a  constant  stream  from 
numerous  guns  of  comparatively  small  weight  and  caliber. 

Combined  with  rapidity  of  fire,  these  shells  cannot  but  prove 
formidable  to  an  armor-clad  ship,  independently  of  any  damage  inflicted 
on  the  plates.  The  great  thickness  now  given  to  ship  armor  is  accom- 
plished by  a  mode  of  concentration,  which,  while  affecting  to  shield  the 
vital  parts,  leaves  a  large  portion  of  the  ship  entirely  unprotected.  On 
the  unarmored  portion  a  tremendous  effect  will  be  produced  by  the  quick- 
firing  guns  dashing  their  powerful  shells  in  a  fiery  deluge  on  the  ship. 

Altogether  the  new  force  which  is  now  entering  into  the  composition 
of  artillery  is  one  which  demands  the  attention  of  the  British  Government 
in  the  form  of  prompt  and  vigorous  action.  While  we  are  experimenting, 
others  are  arming. 

REVOLUTIONISTS  PREFER  TO  STICK  TO  DYNAMITE. 

Dynamite,  however,  is  the  weapon  with  which  the  "Revolution"  has 
armed  itself  for  its  assault  upon  society.  A  terrible  arm,  truly,  but  one 
difficult  to  handle,  dangerous  to  hold,  and  certainly  no  stronger  in  their 


HISTORY   OF   ANARCHY.  529 

hands  than  in  ours,  if  it  should  ever  become  necessary  to  use  it  m  defense 
of  law  and  order. 

A  number  of  Russian  chemists,  members  of  Nihilist  party,  were  the 
first  to  apply  dynamite  to  the  work  of  murder.  It  is  to  their  researches 
that  is  to  be  credited  the  invention  of  the  "black  jelly,"  so  called,  of  which 
so  much  was  expected,  and  by  which  so  little  was  done. 

Nihilist  activity  in  Russia  commenced  almost  as  soon  as  the  emanci- 
pated peasantry  began  to  be  in  condition  for  the  evangel  of  discontent. 
It  was  Tourgeneff,  the  novelist,  who  baptized  the  movement  with  its 
name  of  Nihilism — and  the  truth  is  that  it  is  a  movement  rather  than  an 
organization.  It  is  a  loose,  uncentralized,  uncodified  society,  secret  by 
necessity  and  murderous  by  belief ;  but  it  is  a  secret  society  without  grips 
or  pass  words,  without  a  purpose  save  indiscriminate  destruction,  and  its 
very  formlessness  and  vagueness  have  been  its  chief  protection  from  the 
Russian  police,  who  are,  perhaps,  after  all  is  said  and  done,  the  best  police 
in  the  world. 

At  statement  of  Nihilism  by  that  very  famous  Nihilist,  known  as 
Stepniak,  but  who  is  suspected  to  be  entitled  to  a  more  illustrious  name, 
ran  thus : 

"By  our  general  conviction  we  are  Socialists  and  Democrats.  We 
are  convinced  that  on  Socialistic  grounds  humanity  can  become  the  em- 
bodiment of  freedom,  equality  and  fraternity,  while  it  secures  for  itself 
a  general  prosperity,  a  harmonious  development  of  man  and  his  social 
progress. 

"We  are  convinced,  moreover,  that  only  the  will  of  the  people  could 
give  sanction  to  any  social  institution,  and  that  the  development  of  the 
nation  is  sound  only  when  free  and  independent  and  when  every  idea  in 
practical  use  shall  have  previously  passed  the  test  of  national  consideration 
and  of  the  national  will. 

"We  further  think  that  as  Socialists  and  Democrats  we  must  first 
recognize  an  immediate  purpose  to  liberate  the  nation  from  its  present 
state  of  oppression  by  creating  a  political  revolution.  We  would  thus 
transfer  the  supreme  power  into  the  hands  of  the  people.  We  think  that 
the  will  of  the  nation  should  be  expressed  with  perfect  clearness,  and  best, 
by  a  National  Assembly  freely  elected  by  the  votes  of  all  the  citizens,  the 
representatives  to  be  carefully  instructed  by  their  constituents. 

"We  do  not  consider  this  as  the  ideal  form  of  expressing  the  people's 
will,  but  as  the  most  acceptable  form  to  be  realized  in  practice.  Submit- 
ting ourselves  to  the  will  of  the  nation,  we,  as  a  party,  feel  bound  to  appear 
before  our  own  country  with  our  own  program  or  platform,  which  we 


530  HISTORY   OF  ANARCHY. 

shall  propagate  even  before  the  revolution,  recommend  to  the  electors  dur- 
ing electorial  periods,  and  afterward  defend  in  the  National  Assembly." 

NIHILISTIC  PROGRAM  IN  RUSSIA. 

The  Nihilist  program  in  Russia  has  been  officially  formulated  thus : 

First — The  permanent  Representative  Assembly  to  have  supreme 
control  and  direction  in  all  general  state  questions. 

Second — In  the  provinces,  self-government  to  a  large  extent.  To 
secure  it  all  public  functionaries  to  be  elected. 

Third — To  secure  the  independence  of  the  Village  Commune  ("Mir") 
as  an  economical  and  administrative  unit. 

Fourth — All  the  land  to  be  proclaimed  national  property. 

Fifth — A  series  of  measures  preparatory  to  a  final  transfer  of  owner- 
ship in  manufactures  to  the  workmen. 

Sixth — Perfect  liberty  of  conscience,  of  the  press,  speech,  meetings 
and  electoral  agitations. 

Seventh — The  right  to  vote  to  be  extended  to  all  citizens  of  legal  age, 
without  class  or  property  restrictions. 

Eighth — Abolition  of  the  standing  army ;  the  army  to  be  replaced  by 
a  territorial  militia. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  conditions  in. Russia  are  peculiar. 
The  country  is  by  an  autocracy;  government  is  not  by  the  people,  but 
by  "divine  right."  The  conditions  which  the  English-speaking  people 
ended  at  Runnymede  still  exist  in  Muscovy.  There  is  neither  free  speech, 
free  assembly,  nor  a  free  press,  and  naturally  discontent  vents  itself  in 
revolt.  There  is  no  safety  valve.  Russia  is  full  of  generous,  high-minded 
young  men  and  women,  who  find  their  church  dead,  and  their  state  a  cruel 
despotism. 

They  find  themselves  face  to  face  with  the  White  Terror,  and  they 
have  sought  in  the  Red  Terror  a  relief.  Flying  at  last  from  the  hopeless 
contest,  they  have  carried  the  hate  of  government,  born  of  ba<i  ruling,  into 
Western  Europe,  and  it  is  the  infection  of  this  poison  that  we  have  to  deal 
with  here.  The  average  Russian  Nihilist  is  a  young  man  or  a  young 
woman — very  often  the  latter — who,  by  the  contemplation  of  real  wrongs 
and  fallacious  remedies,  have  come  to  be  the  implacable  enemy  of  all 
order  and  all  system.  Usually  they  are  half  educated,  with  just  that 
superficial  smattering  of  knowledge  to  make  them  conceited  in  their  own 
opinion,  but  without  enough  real  learning  to  make  them  either  impartial 
critics  or  safe  citizens  of  non-Russian  countries.  We  can  pity  them,  for 


HISTORY   OF   ANARCHY.  535 

it  is  easy  to  see  how,  step  by  step,  they  have  pushed  into  revolt.    But  they 
are  dangerous. 

THE  CASE  OF  VERA  SASSOULITCH. 

When  one  reads  such  a  case  as  that  which  gave  Vera  Sassoulitch  her 
notoriety,  it  is  easier  to  understand  Russia.  General  Trepoff,  the  Chief  of 
Police  of  St.  Petersburg,  had  arrested  Vera's  lover  on  suspicion  of  high 
treason.  The  young  man  was  by  Trepoff's  order  frequently  flogged  to 
make  him  confess  his  crime.  Sassoulitch  called  on  Trepoff  and  shot  him. 
She  was  tried  by  a  St.  Petersburg  jury  and  acquitted. 

Immediately  a  law  was  declared  that  no  case  of  political  crime  should 
be  tried  by  a  jury,  except  when  the  Government  had  selected  it.  The 
arrest  of  the  woman  was  ordered  that  she  might  be  tried  again  under  the 
new  regulation,  but  in  the  meantime  her  friends  had  spirited  her  away. 

A  very  similar  crime  was  that  attempted  by  another  Nihilist  heroine, 
Marie  Kaliouchnaia,  who  attempted  to  kill  Colonel  Katuaski  for  his 
severity  to  her  brother.  In  the  assassination  of  the  Czar,  Alexander  II., 
in  St.  Petersburg,  a  number  of  women  were  concerned,  and  their  bravery 
was  greatly  more  desperate  than  that  of  their  male  companions.  The 
Russian  woman  is  peculiar.  There  is  no  better  picture  of  the  "devoted 
ones"  than  that  given  in  Tourgeneffs  "Verses  in  Prose" : 

"I  see  a  huge  building  with  a  narrow  door  in  its  front  wall ;  the  door 
is  open,  and  a  dismal  darkness  stretches  beyond.  Before  the  high  thres- 
hold stands  a  girl — a  Russian  girl.  Frost  breathes  out  of  the  impenetrable 
darkness,  and  with  the  icy  draught  from  the  depths  of  the  building  there 
comes  forth  a  slow  and  hollow  voice : 

"  'Oh,  thou  who  art  wanting  to  cross  this  threshold,  dost  thou  know 
what  awaits  thee?' 

"  'I  know  it,'  answers  the  girl. 

"  'Cold,  hunger,  hatred,  derision,  contempt,  insults,  a  fearful  death 
even.' 

"  'I  know  it.' 

"  'Complete  isolation  and  separation  from  all  ?' 

"  'I  know  it.    I  am  ready.    I  will  bear  all  sorrows  and  miseries.' 

"  'Not  only  if  inflicted  by  enemies,  but  when  done  by  kindred  and 
friends  ?' 

"  'Yes,  even  when  done  by  them.' 

"  'Well,  are  you  ready  for  self-sacrifice?* 

"'Yes!' 

"'For  anonymous  self-sacrifice?  You  shall  die,  and  nobody  shall 
know  even  whose  memory  is  to  be  honored?' 


536  H  I  STORY    OF   AN  ARC  H  Y. 

"  'I  want  neither  gratitude  nor  pity.    I  want  no  name.' 

"  'Are  you  ready  for  a  crime?' 

"The  girl  bent  her  head.    'I  am  ready — even  for  a  crime.' 

"The  voice  paused  awhile  before  renewing  its  interrogatories.  Then 
again :  'Dost  thou  know/  it  said  at  last,  'that  thou  mayest  lose  thy  faith 
in  what  thou  now  believest;  that  thou  mayest  feel  that  thou  hast  been 
mistaken  and  hast  lost  thy  young  life  in  vain  ?' 

"  'I  know  that,  also,  and  nevertheless  I  will  enter !' 

"'Enter,  then!' 

"The  girl  crossed  the  threshold,  and  a  heavy  curtain  fell  behind  her. 

"  'A  fool !'  gnashed  some  one  outside. 

"  'A  saint !'  answered  a  voice  from  somewhere." 

THE  MURDER  OF  CZAR  ALEXANDER  I. 

With  such  material  it  was  not  difficult  to  build  up  the  tragedy  of 
1881.  Before  the  day  of  the  Czar's  death  came  there  had  been  desperate 
attempts  upon  his  life.  Prince  Krapotkin,  a  relative  of  the  Nihilist  of 
the  same  name,  was  murdered  in  February,  1879,  and  following  this  deed 
the  Terrorists  applied  to  the  removal  of  the  Emperor. 

For  instance,  in  November,  1879,  was  the  mine  laid  in  Moscow.  It 
was  intended  to  blow  up  the  railroad  train  upon  which  the  Czar  was  to 
enter  the  city,  and  for  this  purpose  Solovieff  and  his  comrades  laid  three 
dynamite  mines  under  the  tracks.  Hartmann,  who  subsequently  figured 
in  the  assassination,  was  one  of  the  leaders,  and  here,  too,  was  Sophie 
Peroosky,  another  of  the  regicides.  They  hired  a  house  near  the  railway 
tracks  and  tunneled  under  the  road  amidst  incredible  difficulties  and 
always  in  the  most  imminent  danger. 

One  hundred  and  twenty  pounds  of  dynamite  were  in  position,  but  the 
Czar  passed  by  in  a  common  train  before  the  imperial  one  on  which  he 
was  expected,  and  his  life  was  saved.  On  February  5th,  1880,  the  mine 
under  the  Winter  Palace  was  exploded ;  eleven  persons  were  killed,  but 
again  the  Czar  escaped. 

For  some  time  before  March  I3th,  1881,  General  Count  Loris  Meli- 
koff,  the  officer  responsible  for  the  safety  of  Czar  Alexander  II.,  had 
received  disquieting  reports  which  gave  him  the  greatest  anxiety.  On  the 
loth  of  the  month  Jelaboff ,  the  ringleader  of  the  conspiracy,  was  arrested 
by  accident,  and  the  direction  of  the  attempt  on  the  Czar's  life  was  accord- 
ingly left  to  Sophie  Perowskaja,  a  young,  pretty  and  highly  educated 
noblewoman,  who  had  left  everything  to  join  the  Nihilists. 

It  is  said  that  on  the  morning  of  the  I3th  Melikoff  begged  the  Czar 


HISTORY  o/7  ANARCHY.  $v 

to  forego  his  purpose  of  reviewing  the  Marine  Corps,  and  keep  within  the 
palace.  The  Emperor  laughed  at  him,  and  declared  that  there  was  no 
danger.  There  was  no  incident  till  after  the  review.  As  the  Emperor 
drove  back  beside  the  Ekaterinofsky  Canal,  just  opposite  the  imperial 
stables,  a  young  woman  on  the  other  side  of  the  Canal  fluttered  a  hand- 
kerchief, and  immediately  a  man  started  out  from  the  crowd  that  was 
watching  the  passing  of  the  Czar,  and  threw  a  bomb  under  the  closed  car- 
riage. There  was  a  roaring  explosion,  a  cloud  of  smoke.  The  rear  of 
vehicle  was  blown  away,  and  the  horror-stricken  multitude  saw  the  Czar 
standing  unhurt,  staring  about  him.  On  the  ground  were  several  mem- 
bers of  the  Life  Guard,  groaning  and  writhing  in  pain.  The  assassin  had 
pulled  out  a  revolver  to  complete  his  work,  but  he  was  at  once  mobbed  by 
the  people.  Colonel  Dvorjitsky  and  Captains  Kock  and  Kulebiekan,  of 
the  guards,  rushed  up  to  their  master  and  asked  him  if  he  was  hurt. 

"Thank  God!  no,"  said  the  Czar.  "Come,  let  us  look  after  the 
wounded." 

And  he  started  toward  one  of  the  Cossacks. 

"It  is  too  soon  to  thank  God  yet,  Alexander  Nicolaivitch,"  said  a 
clear,  threatening  voice  in  the  crowd,  and  before  any  one  could  stop  him, 
a  young  man  bounded  forward,  lifted  up  both  arms  above  his  head,  and 
brought  them  down  with  a  swing.  There  was  a  crash  of  dynamite,  a 
blaze,  a  smoke,  and  the  autocrat  of  all  the  Russias  was  lying  on  the  blood} 
snow,  with  his  murderer  also  dying  in  front  of  him.  Colonel  Dvorjitsky 
lifted  up  the  Czar,  who  whispered : 

"I  am  cold,  my  friend,  so  cold — take  me  to  the  Winter  Palace  to 
die." 

The  desperate  Nihilist  had  thrown  his  bomb  right  between  the  Czar's 
feet,  and  had  sacrificed  his  own  life  to  kill  the  Emperor. 

/  Alexander  was  shockingly  mutilated.  Both  of  his  legs  were  broken 
and  the  lower  part  of  his  body  was  frightfully  torn  and  mangled.  The 
assassin — his  name  was  Nicholas  Elnikoff,  of  Willna — was  even  more 
badly  hurt.  He  died  at  once. 

AMERICA  THE  HAVEN  OF  THE  SOCIAL  DEMOCRATS. 

After  the  enactment  of  the  stringent  Socialist  law  in  Germany,  and 
the  determined  opposition  of  Prince  Bismarck  to  the  creed  of  the  Social 
Democrats,  the  exodus  to  America  began,  and  Chicago,  unfortunately  for 
that  city,  was  the  Mecca  to  which  the  exiles  came.  At  first  but  little 
attention  was  paid  to  the  incoming  people.  It  was  thought  that  free  air 


538  HISTORY   OF   ANARCHY. 

and  free  institutions  would  disarm  them  of  their  rancor  against  organized 
society,  and  but  little  attention  was  paid  to  the  vaporings  of  the  leaders. 

We  had  heard  that  sort  of  thing  before — especially  in  the  years 
following  1848 — and  it  had  come  to  nothing;  and  people  generally,  when 
they  heard  the  mouthings  of  the  apostles  of  disorder,  told  themselves  that 
when  these  apostles  had  each  bought  a  home,  there  would  come  naturally, 
and  out  of  the  logic  of  facts,  a  change  in  their  convictions. 

Hence,  although  there  were  some  inflammatory  speeches,  and  a 
pretense  of  Socialistic  activity,  it  was  not  until  the  year  1873  that  any 
serious  attention  was  paid  to  the  movement.  Even  then  the  interest 
excited  was  that  solely  of  a  political  novelty. 

The  period  was  one  of  general  business  depression,  however,  and 
additional  impetus  was  given  to  the  feelings  of  discontent  by  the  labor 
troubles  in  New  York,  Boston,  St.  Louis  and  other  large  cities.  In  New 
York  the  labor  demonstrations  were  particularly  violent.  The  special 
object  sought  to  be  accomplished  there  was  the  introduction  of  the  eight- 
hour  system. 

Eastern  Internationalists  saw  in  this  an  opportunity  to  strengthen 
their  foothold  in  America,  and  they  were  not  slow  in  fomenting  discord 
among  the  members  of  the  different  trades  unions  which  had  inaugurated 
the  movement.  They  even  went  so  far  as  to  proclaim  that,  if  there  was 
any  interference  with  the  eight-hour  strike,  the  streets  would  run  red 
with  the  blood  of  capitalists. 

The  Communists  of  Chicago  sympathized  with  their  brethren  in  the 
East,  but  they  lacked  numbers  and  similar  conditions  of  violent  discontent 
to  urge  force  and  bloodshed  in  the  attainment  of  the  same  object,  which, 
however,  had  been  for  some  time  under  discussion  by  the  Trades  Assembly 
of  Chicago. 

They  consequently  contented  themselves  with  wild  attacks  upon  the 
prevailing  system  of  labor  and  urged  a  severance  from  existing  political 
parties  and  the  formation  of  a  party  exclusively  devoted  to  the  ameliora- 
tion of  the  condition  of  workingmen. 

ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  SOCIALIST  PARTY. 

Toward  the  end  of  the  year  1873  the  leaders  concluded  that  they  had 
a  sufficient  number  of  adherents  to  form  a  party,  and  a  committee  was 
appointed  to  prepare  and  submit  a  plan  of  organization.  On  the  1st  of 
January  this  committee  reported.  They  suggested  organization  into 
societies  according  to  nationalities  and  that  all  societies  thus  organized 


HISTORY   OF  ANARCHY.  S39 

should  be  directed  by  a  central  committee,  to  be  appointed  from  the  several 
sections. 

At  the  same  time  it  was  publicly  announced  that  "the  new  organiza- 
tion did  not  seek  to  overthrow  the  national,  state  or  city  government  by 
violence,"  but  would  work  out  its  mission  peaceably  through  the  ballot 
box. 

While  the  formation  of  a  party  was  under  consideration,  times  were 
exceedingly  dull  in  the  city  of  Chicago.  Thousands  were  idle,  and  there 
was  a  general  clamor  among  the  unemployed  for  relief.  This  discontent 
was  seized  upon  to  influence  the  minds  of  the  poor  against  capital,  and 
the  remedy  was  declared  to  lie  only  in  Socialism.  The  Relief  and  Aid 
Society  formed  the  first  point  of  attack. 

The  Socialist  leaders  loudly  proclaimed  that  it  had  on  hand  over 
$600,000 — the  charitable  contributions  of  the  world  sent  to  Chicago  after 
the  fire  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor — which  sum  was  held,  they  claimed, 
for  the  enrichment  of  the  managers  of  that  society  and  the  benefit  of 
"rich  paupers."  In  the  early  part  of  December,  1873,  a  procession  of  the 
unemployed  marched  through  the  streets  and  demanded  assistance  from 
the  municipal  authorities.  They  finally  decided  to  appeal  to  the  Relief 
Society,  and,  backed  by  hundreds  in  line,  a  committee  attempted  to  wait 
upon  the  officials  of  the  organization.  They  were  excluded,  however,  on 
the  ground  that  all  deserving  cases  would  be  aided  without  the  inter- 
vention of  a  committee. 

The  condition  of  labor  now  formed  the  pretext  of  many  a  diatribe 
against  capital  in  general  and  the  alleged  favoritism  of  the  Relief  and 
Aid  Society  in  particular ;  and  many  allied  themselves  with  the  Socialistic 
organization — not  comprehending  its  meaning,  but  because  it  happened  at 
the  moment  to  appeal  to  their  passions. 

DECLARATION  OF  SOCIALISTIC  PRINCIPLES. 

It  was  this  state  of  affairs  which  spurred  on  the  Socialist  leaders  to  the 
formation  of  a  party.  Having  accepted  the  general  plan  of  organization 
as  recommended  by  the  committee,  another  meeting  was  held  in  January, 
1874.  A  declaration  of  principles  was  then  formulated.  There  were 
nine  articles,  which  may  be  summarized  as  follows : 

Abolition  of  all  class  legislation  and  repeal  of  all  existing  laws  favor- 
ing monopolies. 

All  means  of  transportation,  such  as  railroads,  canals,  telegraph, 
etc.,  to  be  controlled,  managed  and  operated  by  the  state. 

Abolition  of  the  prevailing  system  of  letting  out  public  work  by  con- 


540  HISTORY    OF    ANARCHY. 

tract,  the  state  or  municipality  to  have  all  work  of  a  public  nature  done 
under  its  own  supervision  and  control. 

An  amendment  to  the  laws  in  regard  to  the  recovery  of  wages,  all 
suits  brought  for  the  recovery  of  wages  to  be  decided  within  eight  days. 

The  payment  of  wages  by  the  month  to  be  abolished,  and  weekly 
payments  substituted. 

A  discontinuance  of  the  hiring-out  of  prison  labor  to  companies  or 
individuals,  prisoners  to  be  employed  by  and  for  the  benefit  of  the 
state  only. 

Adoption  by  the  state  of  compulsory  education  of  all  children  be- 
tween the  ages  of  seven  and  fourteen  years ;  and  hiring  out  of  children 
under  fourteen  to  be  prohibited. 

All  banking,  both  commercial  and  savings,  to  be  done  by  the  state. 
All  kinds  of  salary  grabs  to  be  discontinued ;  all  public  officers  to  be  paid 
a  fixed  salary  instead  of  fees. 

THE  CALL  FOR  THE  HAYMARKET  MEETING. 

This  is  the  text  of  the  call  for  the  famous  Chicago  Haymarket  meet- 
ing of  May  4th,  1886,  which  resulted  in  the  throwing  of  the  anarchist 
bomb  by  Rudolph  Schnaubelt  and  the  killing  and  maiming  of  nearly  one 
hundred  police  officers : 

ATTENTION,  WORKINGMEN! 

Great • 

MASS-MEETING 
To-night,  at  7 130  o'clock, 

at  the • 

Haymarket,    Randolph    St.,    bet.    Desplaines    and    Halsted. 

Good  Speakers  will  be  present  to  denounce  the  latest 

atrocious  act  of  the  Police,  the  shooting  of  our 

fellow-workmen  yesterday  afternoon. 
Workingmen,  Arm  Yourselves  and  Appear  in  Full  Force ! 

THE  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE. 

THE  FAMOUS  "REVENGE"  CIRCULAR  WRITTEN  BY  SPIES. 

The  following  is  a  portion  of  the  circular  distributed  throughout  the 
City  of  Chicago  the  evening  of  the  riot  at  the  McCormick  Reaper  Works : 

"Revenge ! 
"Workingmen  to  Arms ! ! ! 

"Your  masters  sent  out  their  bloodhounds — the  police — they  killed 
six  of  your  brothers  at  McCormick's  this  afternoon.  They  killed  the 


HISTORY    OF    ANARCHY.  541 

poor  wretches  because  they,  like  you,  had  the  courage  to  disobey  the  su- 
preme will  of  your  bosses.  They  killed  them  because  they  dared  ask 
for  the  shortening  of  the  hours  of  toil.  They  killed  them  to  show  you, 
'Free  American  Citizens/  that  you  must  be  satisfied  and  contented  with 
whatever  your  bosses  condescend  to  allow  you  or  you  will  get  killed !" 

On  the  afternoon  of  May  4th  the  single  word  "Ruhe"  appeared  in  the 
Arbeiter-Zeitung,  the  paper  edited  by  Spies.  This  word  was  the  signal 
agreed  upon  by  the  anarchistic  conspirators  to  denote  that  the  time  to 
act  had  come. 

The  great  reliance  of  the  anarchist  crew  was  in  dynamite.  For 
many  weeks  the  leaders  had  experimented  with  it.  Some  six  weeks 
before  the  Haymarket  massacre  Louis  Lingg  had  brought  a  bomb  to  the 
house  of  William  Selliger,  No.  442  Sedgwick  street,  Chicago,  with 'orders 
that  others  like  it  be  made.  By  the  evening  of  May  4th  fully  one  hundred 
bombs  were  ready,  but  only  one  of  them  was  used. 

Had  the  others  been  thrown  no  one  can  imagine  what  the  result  would 
have  been.  Thousands  of  lives  would  have  been  sacrificed,  and  scores 
of  the  finest  residences  and  public  and  business  buildings  in  Chicago  would 
have  been  blown  to  pieces. 

Haymarket  Square  is  merely  a  widening  of  Randolph  street  between 
Desplaines  and  Halsted  streets.  The  mass-meeting,  however,  was  held 
at  the  mouth  of  the  alley  (where  the  speakers'  stand,  consisting  of  an  old 
wagon,  was  located),  ninety  feet  north  of  Randolph  Street,  in  Desplaines 
Street.  This  was  a  point  about  three  hundred  and  fifty  feet  north  of  the 
Desplaines  Street  Police  Station.  It  was  a  part  of  the  plot  that  as  soon 
as  the  police  moved  from  that  station  the  latter  wras  to  be  blown  up.  Ar- 
rangements had  also  been  made  to  blow  up  all  the  other  police  stations 
in  the  city,  together  with  the  City  Hall,  where  the  Central  (the  most  ob- 
noxious of  all)  Station  was  located. 

At  the  Haymarket  meeting  Spies,  Parsons  and  Fielden  spoke, 
Schnaubelt  (who  threw  the  bomb)  being  on  the  wagon  by  their  side. 
Fielden  was  on  the  wagon  speaking  when  the  police  appeared  upon  the 
scene.  The  crowd  was  worked  up  to  the  highest  pitch  of  excitement. 

When  Fielden  saw  the  police  detachment  he  exclaimed,  "We  are 
peaceable !"  Just  the  moment  before  he  had  said,  "Stab  the  law !  Kill 
it !"  This  was  the  signal  for  the  throwing  of  the  bomb,  and  Schnaubelt 
threw  it! 

Nearly  one  hundred  men  went  down  before  the  poisoned  missile,  and 
subsequent  events  demonstrated  that  nearly  thirty  policemen  and  anarch- 
ists died  as  its  direct  consequence! 


542  HISTORY    OF    ANARCHY. 

Within  a  few  days  all  the  anarchists  participating  in  the  Haymarket 
plot  were  caught,  with  the  exception  of  Albert  Parsons,  who  had  fled  to 
Milwaukee,  but  who  gave  himself  up.  Parsons,  Engel,  Fischer  and  Spies 
were  hanged  at  Chicago,  November  nth,  1887;  Louis  Lingg,  the  bomb- 
maker,  committed  suicide  the  day  before,  and  Schwab,  Fielden  and  Neebe 
were  sent  to  prison.  The  convicts  were  afterwards  pardoned  by  Gover- 
nor Altgeld,  of  Illinois. 

There  were  no  disturbances  of  any  moment  in  the  United  States, 
due  to  anarchistic  turbulence,  after  the  Haymarket  explosion  and  up  to 
the  time  of  the  assassination  of  President  McKinley.  It  is  true  that  those 
calling  themselves  anarchists  endeavored  to  incite  and  foment  trouble  in 
various  mining  districts,  but  they  produced  no  alarming  results. 

In  spite  of  all  demands,  the  National  Congress  failed  to  pass  laws 
regulating  or  prohibiting  the  immigration  of  foreign  Reds,  who,  as  a 
consequence,  flocked  to  the  United  States  by  thousands  and  formed  groups 
in  various  cities  and  towns.  Poland  sent  many  of  her  rampant  believers 
in  all  things  anarchical,  as  did  also  Russia,  Italy,  France  and  Germany. 
Every  class  of  those  who  believe  in  the  annihilation  of  all  forms  and 
systems  of  government  found  refuge  in  the  United  States. 

While  Chicago  remained  an  anarchistic  and  Red  Socialistic  center  or 
rendezvous,  the  persistent  activity  of  the  authorities  of  that  city  prevented 
any  open  demonstrations.  Emma  Goldman,  whose  wild  utterances  fired 
the  soul  of  the  assassin  Czolgosz,  made  her  headquarters  in  New  York 
City,  but  took  frequent  trips  to  Chicago  to  confer  with  her  friends  and  co- 
laborers  there. 

The  headquarters  of  the  Italian  anarchists  became  fixed  at  Paterson, 
N.  J.,  from  where  Bresci  was  sent  to  slay  King  Humbert;  the  Poles, 
as  a  rule,  affected  the  mountain  regions  in  Pennsylvania;  the  Russians 
distributed  themselves  generally;  while  the  home  of  the  "native"  anar- 
chists (those  who  made  the  United  States  their  permanent  abode)  con- 
gregated in  Buffalo,  Cleveland,  Spring  Valley,  111.,  and  New  York  City. 


